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Five hundred copies of this Book 
have been printed from type, in 
the year nineteen hundred, at the 
De Vinne Press. 



THE 

LAST WORDS OF DISTINGUISHED 

MEN AND WOMEN 



THE LAST WORDS 

(REAL AND TRADITIONAL) 

OF DISTINGUISHED MEN 
AND WOMEN 



COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 
BY 

FREDERIC ROWLAND MARVIN 



fc 



The tongues of dying men 
Enforce attention like deep harmony ; 
Where words are scarce they're seldom spent in vain, 
For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain. 

Shakspeare 




TROY, N. Y. 
C. A. BREWSTER & CO. 
1900 









63519 



€o mp i©ife 

tfji^ 25ooft t£ mogt fltfoinsip 

SDebicateb 



Neither is there anything of which I am so 
inquisitive, and delight to inform myself, as 
the manner of men's deaths, their words, 
looks, and bearing; nor any places in his- 
tory I am so intent upon ; and it is mani- 
fest enough, by my crowding in examples 
of this kind, that I have a particular fancy 
for that subject. If I were a writer of books, 
I would compile a register, with a com- 
ment, of the various deaths of men : he who 
should teach men to die, would at the same 
time teach them to live. — Montaigne. 



Last Words of Distinguished 
Men and Women. 

Adam (Alexander, Dr., headmaster at the High School 
in Edinburgh, and the author of " Roman Antiquities "), 
1 741-1809. "It grows dark, boys. You may go" 

" It grows dark, boys. You may go." 
(Thus the master gently said, 
Just before, in accents low, 

Circling friends moaned, " He is dead.") 

Unto him, a setting sun 

Tells the school's dismissal hour, 
Deeming not that he alone 

Deals with evening's dark'ning power. 

All his thought is with the boys, 

Taught by him in light to grow; 
Light withdrawn, and hushed the noise, 

Fall the passwords, "You may go." 

Go, boys, go, and take your rest; 

Weary is the book-worn brain : 
Day sinks idly in the west, 

Tired of glory, tired of gain. 

Careless are the shades that creep 

O'er the twilight, to and fro; 
Dusk is lost in shadows deep : 

It grows dark, boys. You may go. 

Mary B. Dodge. 



!la*t Mortis of 

ADAMS (John, second President of the United States), 
1735— 1826. " Independence forever ! ' ' 

He died on the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the 
Declaration of Independence ; and it is thought that his 
last words were suggested by the noise of the celebration. 
Some say his last words were, " Jefferson survives " ; if so, 
he was mistaken, for Jefferson passed away at an earlier 
hour the same day. 

Adams (John Quincy, sixth President of the United 
States), 1 767-1 848. "It is the last of earth ! I am 
content ! " On the twenty-first of February, 1848, while 
in his seat in the Capitol, he was struck with paralysis, 
and died two days later. 

ADDISON (Joseph, poet and essayist), 1672-17 19. 
" See in what peace a Christian can die / " These words 
were addressed to Lord Warwick, an accomplished but 
dissolute youth, to whom Addison was nearly related. 

Adrian or Hadrian (Publius yElius, the Roman 
Emperor), 76-138. "O my poor soul, whither art thou 
going? " 

Adrian wrote both in Greek and Latin. Among his , 
Latin poems (preserved by Spartianus, who wrote his life), 
are these lines addressed to his own soul : 

Animula, vagula, blandula, 
Hospes comesque corporis, 
Quae nunc abibis in loca, 
Pallidula, frigida, nudula, 
Nee, ut soles, dabis jocos ? 



HDtetmguisfyrt) $$m ana OTomm* 

Soul of me ! floating and flitting, and fond ! 
Thou and this body were house-mates together 
Wilt thou begone now, and whither ? 
Pallid, and naked, and cold ; 
Not to laugh, nor be glad, as of old. 



Albert (Francis- Augustus-Charles-Emmanuel, Prince 
of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He married Queen Vic- 
toria, his cousin, the tenth of February, 1840), 1819- 
186 1. " I have had wealth, rank and power, but if these 
were all I had, how wretched I should be ! " A few mo- 
ments later he repeated the familiar lines : 

Rock of Ages cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in Thee. 

Inscription on the " Memorial Cairn " on a high moun- 
tain overlooking Balmoral Palace : " To the beloved 
memory of Albert the great and good Prince Consort, 
erected by his broken-hearted widow, Victoria R., 21 
Aug. 1862." Upon another dressed slab, a few inches 
below the above, is this quotation : " He being made 
perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time : for his soul 
pleased the Lord, therefore hasted he to take him away 
from among the wicked." 

Wisdom of Solomon, chap, iv : 13, 14. 

Alexander (Jannaeus, son of John Hyrcanus, suc- 
ceeded his brother Aristobulus as King of Judea in 105 
B. c. The Pharisees rose in rebellion against his au- 
thority ; they hated him during his life, and cursed his 
memory when he was dead), — B. C. 78. " Fear not true 
Pharisees, but greatly fear painted Pharisees," to his wife. 

3 



ILast Worte of 

Alfieri (Vittorio, eminent Italian tragic poet), 1749- 
1803. " Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die ! " Ad- 
dressed to the Countess Stolberg, who derived the title 
Countess of Albany from being the wife of Charles Ed- 
ward Stuart, " the Pretender." After the death of Stuart, 
the countess lived with Alfieri, to whom it is believed she 
was privately married. 

In the church of Santa Croce, Florence, reposes the 
body of Alfieri, and over it is an imposing monument 
erected by Canova for the Countess of Albany. It was 
while walking amongst the tombs of the illustrious dead 
in that great "Westminster Abbey of Italy" that the 
poet first dreamed of fame. 

ANAXAGORAS (the most illustrious philosopher of the 
Ionian school, and "The Friend of Pericles"), B. C. 500- 
428. " Give the boys a holiday." 

After his banishment he resided in Lampsacus and 
there preserved tranquillity of mind until his death. " It 
is not I who have lost the Athenians ; it is the Athenians 
who have lost me," was his proud reflection. He con- 
tinued his studies, and was highly respected by the citi- 
zens, who, wishing to pay some mark of esteem to his 
memory, asked him on his death-bed in what manner 
they could do so. He begged that the day of his death 
might be annually kept as a holiday in all the schools of 
Lampsacus. For centuries this request was fulfilled. He 
died in his seventy-third year. A tomb was erected to 
him in the city, with this inscription : 

This tomb great Anaxagoras confines, 

Whose mind explored the heavenly paths of Truth. 

Lewes' 1 Biographical History of Philosophy. 

4 



HDtetmguistyet) $0m ana OTomm 

ANDRE (John, Major in the British army at the time 
of the American Revolution, and executed as a spy, 
October 2, 1780), 1751-1780. "It will be but a momen- 
tary pang." 

The order for execution was loudly and impressively 
read by Adjutant-General Scammel, who at its conclusion 
informed Andre he might now speak, if he had anything 
to say. Lifting the bandage for a moment from his eyes 
he bowed courteously to Greene and the attending offi- 
cers, and said with firmness and dignity : " All I request 
of you, gentlemen, is that you will bear witness to the 
world that I die like a brave man." A moment later he 
said, almost in a whisper, " It will be but a momentary 
pang." 

The London General Evening Post for November 14, 
1780, in an article abusive of Washington, gives a pre- 
tended account of Andre's " last words," in which the 
unfortunate man is made to say, " Remember that I die 
as becomes a British officer, while the manner of my 
death must reflect disgrace on your commander." Andre 
uttered no sentiment like this. Miss Seward, his early 
friend, on reading this account, wrote thus in her " Mon- 
ody on Major Andre : " 

Oh Washington ! I thought thee great and good, 

Nor knew thy Nero-thirst for guiltless blood ! 

Severe to use the pow'r that Fortune gave, 

Thou cool, determin'd murderer of the brave ! 

Lost to each fairer virtue, that inspires 

The genuine fervor of the patriot fires ! 

And you, the base abettors of the doom, 

That sunk his blooming honors in the tomb, 

Th' opprobrious tomb your harden'd hearts decreed, 

While all he asked was as the brave to bleed ! 

Lossing' 's Field Book of 'the Revolution, Vol. \,p. 768. 

1* 5 



ilatt Mortis; of 

ANDRONICUS (Usurper and Emperor), 112-1185. 
" Lord, have mercy upon me. Wilt thou break a bruised 
reed? " 

So great was his cruelty and so oppressive his tyranny, 
that his own subjects rose in desperation and slew him. 

Archibald (eighth Earl of Argyle), 1598-1661. "/ 
die not only a Protestant, but with a heart-hatred of 
popery, prelacy, and all superstition whatsoever" Spoken 
upon the scaffold. 

Ariosto (Lodovico, Italian poet), 1479-15 33. " This 
is not my home." 

Arria (wife of Caecina Paetus, a consul under Clau- 
dius), died about the year B. C, 42. When her husband 
was condemned to die by his own hand, seeing that he 
hesitated, she seized the dagger, and plunged it into her 
own breast. Then withdrawing it, she presented it to 
her husband, saying with a smile: " It is not painful, 
Pcetus." 

When to her husband Arria gave the steel, 

Which from her chaste, her bleeding breast she drew ; 

She said — " My Psetus, this I do not feel, 

But, oh ! the wound that must be given by you ! " 

Martial. 

AUGUSTUS (Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, first Em- 
peror of Rome), B. c. 63-14. " Vos plaudite," after 
asking how he had acted his part in life. The last words 
of Augustus rest upon the authority of Cicero. 

BABINGTON (Anthony, English gentleman devoted to 
the cause of Mary Stuart. Executed for having con- 

6 



HDtethtgtusfyeti spot anti Women* 

spired against the life of Queen Elizabeth), — 1586. 
" The murder of the Queen had been represented to me as a 
deed lawful and meritorious. I die a firm Catholic. ' ' Said 
on the scaffold. 

BACON (Francis, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Al- 
bans), 1 561-1626. " Thy creatures, O Lord, have been 
my books, but Thy Holy Scriptures much more. I have 
sought Thee in the fields and gardens, but I have found 
Thee, God, in Thy Sanctuary — Thy Temple." 

" In March, 1626, he came to London, and one day 
near Highgate was taken with a desire to discover whether 
snow would act as an antiseptic. He stopped his car- 
riage, got out at a cottage, purchased a fowl, and with 
his own hands assisted to stuff it with snow. He was 
seized with a sudden chill and became so seriously unwell 
that he had to be conveyed to Lord Arundel's house 
near by. There his illness increased, and he died of bron- 
chitis after a few days of suffering." 

Encyclopedia Britannica. 

For my burial, I desire it may be in St. Michael's 
Church, St. Albans ; there was my mother buried, and it 
is the parish church of my mansion-house of Gorham- 
bury, and it is the only Christain Church within the walls 
of Old Verulam. For my name and memory, I leave it 
to men's charitable speeches, to foreign nations and the 
next ages. — From the Will of Lord Bacon. 

Bailli or Bailliff, Roche de ( known by the name 
of La Riviere, a distinguished French physician), — 1605. 
" / must now hasten away since my baggage has been sent 
off before me." 

7 



ilatt movbg of 

When feeling the approaches of death, he sent for all 
his servants, and distributed his money and property 
among them, on condition that they immediately left the 
house, which was so punctually complied with, that when 
the physicians came on their next visit, they found the 
doors open, and their patient by himself, with no prop- 
erty left but the bed he lay upon. When the physicians 
remarked this circumstance to him, he answered that he 
must now go likewise, "since his baggage was sent off be- 
fore him," and immediately expired. — The Book of Death. 

BAILLY (Jean Sylvain, French astronomer and philos- 
opher, first president of the States-General, and later a 
victim of the Revolution), 1736-1793. " My friend, it is 
only from cold" to one of the bystanders who, witnessing 
the refinement of cruelty attending his execution, said, 
"Bailly, you tremble." 

He was led on foot, amidst a drenching fall of snow 
and sleet, to the banks of the river, where, to parody the 
scene on Calvary, the heavy beams which support the 
guillotine were placed on his shoulders. He sank under 
the weight, but barbarous blows obliged him again to 
lift it. He fell a second time, and swooned away ; yells 
of laughter arose in the crowd, and the execution was 
postponed till he revived, and could feel its bitterness. 
But nothing could subdue his courage. " You tremble, 
Bailly," said one of the spectators. "My friend," said 
the old man, "it is only from cold." 

BARRE, DE LA (Jean Francois le Fevre, Chevalier. 
He was condemned to death for having mutilated a cru- 

8 



SPtettngutsfyea spm ana Women* 

cifix, and was executed in 1766, at the age of nineteen), 
1 747-1 766. "/ did not think that they would put a 
young gentleman to death for such a trifle." x 

Poor young La Barre was tortured, strangled and 
burned for not taking off his hat to a file of greasy 
monks. He remained covered while the Capuchins car- 
ried some mediaeval trumpery in procession. 

Walter Besant s " French Humorists" 

BATTIE (William, English physician), 1 704-1 776. 
" Young man, you have heard, no doubt, how great are 
the terrors of death : this night will probably afford you 
some experie7ice ; but you may learn, and may you profit 
by the example, that a conscientious endeavor to perform 
his duties through life, will ever close a Christian's eyes 
with comfort and tranquillity," said to his servant. 

Baxter (Richard, a noted English nonconformist, 
author of " The Saints' Everlasting Rest," and "The 
Call to the Unconverted"), 1615-1691. I have pain — 
there is no arguing against sense — but I have peace, I 
have peace! " A little later he said, " / am almost well" 

BEARD (Dr. George Miller, an American physician 
and scientist of unusual promise, who died upon the 
threshold of a great career), 1 839-1 883. He said to the 
doctors who endeavored to save his life, " You are good 
fellows, but you can do nothing for me. My time has 
come." His last words were, " I should like to record the 
thoughts of a dying man for the benefit of science, but it is 
impossible" 

1 See Voltaire's "Account of the Death of the Chevalier de la Barre." 

9 



iU0t OTor&g of 

Dr. Beard had wonderful insight. He exposed and 
ruined the notorious Eddy Brothers, and comprehended, 
explained, and paralleled the exploits of Brown, the 
Mind Reader, showing the simple principle on which 
they were produced. His defects were too rapid gen- 
eralization, and too positive and comprehensive asser- 
tion of results. Knowing well the uncertainty of 
average human testimony where the supernatural, or 
even the mysterious, is involved, he held that experts in 
the supposed supernatural alone were competent wit- 
nesses. Of these he thought that there were but three 
or four living, nor did he shrink from claiming that he 
was easily princeps among them. Of course, as there 
were no experts on earth when the miracles were 
wrought, he had no evidence of them. He was prone to 
comprehend as much as possible under one generic 
term, His work on Neurasthenia did not command gen- 
eral approbation, because it made almost everything a 
sign of nervous exhaustion. As a writer, he was bril- 
liant and prolific. His fame would be more enduring if 
he had written five books, instead of fifty. — Obituary. 

BEAUFORT (Henry, half-brother of Henry IV. He 
was made cardinal in 1426, and in 1430 he crowned 
Henry IV. at Notre Dame. He presided over the trib- 
unal that sent the Maid of Orleans to the stake, and is 
supposed to have participated in the murder of the Duke 
of Gloucester), 1 370-1447. "/ pray you all pray for 
me." Some authorities give his last words thus : " And 
must I then die ? Will not all my riches save me ? I 
could purchase a kingdom, if that would save my life ! 

IO 



2Dtetmgutelje& $pm anti Wiomm. 

What! is there no bribing death? When my nephew, 
the Duke of Bedford, died, I thought my happiness and 
my authority greatly increased ; but the Duke of Glouces- 
ter's death raised me in fancy to a level with kings, 
and I thought of nothing but accumulating still greater 
wealth, to purchase at last the triple crown. Alas! how 
are my hopes disappointed ! Wherefore, O my friends, 
let me earnestly beseech you to pray for me, and recom- 
mend my departing soul to God ! " 

Harpsfield : Hist. Eccles. edit. Duaci, 1622, p. 64.3. 

A few minutes before his death, his mind appeared to 
be undergoing the tortures of the damned. He held up 
his two hands, and cried — " Away ! away ! — why thus do 
ye look at me ? " He seemed to behold some horrible 
spectre by his bedside. 1 

BECKET (Thomas a, first Saxon archbishop of Canter- 
bury after the Norman conquest), 1 1 1 7-1 170. " For the 

1 Enter the King, Salisbury, Warwick, to the Cardinal in bed. 

King. How fares my lord ? speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign. 

Car. If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's treasure, 
Enough to purchase such another island, 
So thou wilt let me live and feel no pain. 

King. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, 
Where death's approach is seen so terrible ! 

War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee. 

Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will. 
Died he not in his bed ? where should he die ? 
Can I make men live, whether they will or no ? 
O, torture me no more ! I will confess. 
Alive again ? Then show me where he is : 
I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him. 
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them. 
Comb down his hair ; look, look ! it stands upright. 

II 



ilast OTorto of 

name of Jesus and the defense of the church I am willing 
to die." 

He was assassinated by four barons, servants of Henry 
II. The Roman Catholic Church regarded him as a 
martyr; and in 1172 he was canonized. 

BEDE (surnamed " The Venerable ;" an English monk, 
and the author of" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Ang- 
lorum"), 673-735. " Glory be to the Father, and to the 
Son and to the Holy Ghost" 

It is related that on the night of his death he continued 
dictating to his amanuensis a translation of some work, 
probably of the gospel of St. John, into Anglo-Saxon. 
He asked the scribe how many chapters remained. 
" Only one," he replied ; " but you are too weak to dic- 
tate." "No," said Bede, "take your pen and write 
quickly." After some time the scribe said, " Master, it 

Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul. 
Give me some drink ; and bid the apothecary 
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him. 

King. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens, 
Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch ! 
O, beat away the busy meddling fiend 
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul, 
And from his bosom purge this black despair ! 

War. See how the pangs of death do make him grin ! 

Sal. Disturb him not; let him pass peaceably. 

King. Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be ! 
Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss, 
Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope. 
He dies, and makes no sign. O God, forgive him ! 

War. So bad a death argues a monstrous life. 

King. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. 
Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close ; 
And let us all to meditation. 

Exeunt. — King Henry VI, Part II, Act Hi. 

12 



Dtetmguteljet) spm ant) Women* 

is finished ; " to which Bede replied, " Thou hast said 
truly, consummatum est" and shortly after expired. 

Lippincott. 

Beecher (Henry Ward, distinguished American 
clergyman, for many years pastor of Plymouth Congre- 
gational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y.), 1813-1887. "Now 
comes the mystery''' 

Beethoven (Ludwig van), 1770-1827. " I shall hear 
in heaven." 

When about thirty-five years old, while at work upon 
his opera of " Leonora," known in English as " Fidelio," 
he was attacked with deafness. The malady began grad- 
ually, but after a year made more rapid progress, and 
soon his hearing was entirely destroyed. 

Some authorities give his last words thus : " Is it not 
true, dear Hammel, that I have some talent after all ? " 
Hammel was an old friend with whom he had once quar- 
relled, and who, after being separated from him for a 
long time, came to him when he was upon his death bed. 

Beethoven received the sacraments of the Roman 
church, and at about one in the afternoon of the same 
day he sank into apparent unconsciousness, and a dis- 
tressing conflict with death began which lasted the rest 
of that day, the whole of the next day, and until a quarter 
of six on the evening of the day following. As the even- 
ing closed in, there came a sudden storm of hail and 
snow, covering the ground and roofs of the Schwarz- 
spanierplatz, and followed by a flash of lightning, and an 
instant clap of thunder. So great was the crash as to 
arouse even the dying man. He opened his eyes, clinched 

13 



Hm Morusf of 

his fist, and shook it in the air above him. This lasted a 
few seconds while the hail rushed down outside, and 
then the hand fell, and the great composer was no more. 
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 

Bellarmino (Cardinal Roberto), 1542-1621. "It is 
safest to trust in Jesus" to one who enquired whether it 
is safer to trust in the Virgin Mary than in Jesus. 

BERENGER (de Tours), celebrated French ecclesiastic, 
998 (about) -1088. " / shall not long hesitate between con- 
science and the Pope, for I shall soon appear in the pres- 
ence of God, to be acquitted, I hope ; to be condemned, I 
fear." 

No more 'twixt conscience staggering and the Pope, 
Soon shall I now before my God appear : 
By him to be acquitted, as I hope ; 
By him to be condemned, as I fear." 

Coleridge. 

Berenger opposed the dogmas of Transubstantiation 
and the Real-Presence. His teachings were condemned 
by Pope Leo IX. in 1050. 

BERGERUS (councillor to the Emperor Maximilian), 
" Farewell, O farewell all earthly things, a7id welcome 
heaven." 

BERKELEY (George, Bishop of Cloyne, metaphysical 
philosopher and author), 1684-175 3. 

The last words of Berkeley are not recorded, but the 
peacefulness and suddenness of his death are interesting. 
One evening he and his family were sitting and drinking 
tea together ; he on one side of the fire, and his wife on 

14 



SDtetmgutsfyet) spot ana Wlomm. 

the other, and his daughter making the tea at a little 
round table just behind him. She had given him one 
dish which he had drunk. She had poured out another 
which he left standing some time. " Sir," said she, " will 
you not take your tea ? " Upon his making no kind of 
an answer, she stooped forward and looked at him, and 
found that he was dead. — Life of Bishop Berkeley. 

Berkeley directed in his will that his body should be 
kept above ground more than five days, and until it be- 
came " offensive by the cadaverous smell, and that during 
the said time it lye unwashed, undisturbed and covered 
by the same bedclothes, in the same bed, the head 
raised upon pillows." 

BERNARD (St., Abbot of Clairvaux and active pro- 
moter of the crusade of 1 146. He is the author of many 
beautiful hymns), 1091-1 153. "May God's will be done," 
said when he was told that his last hour was at hand. 

Berry or Berri (Caroline Ferdinande Louise, Madame 
de), 1 798-1 870. "Is not this dying with courage and 
true greatness ? " 

BLAKE (William, English artist and poet), 175 7-1 828. 
Blake died singing. 

" On the day of his death," writes Smith, who had his 
account from the widow, " he composed and uttered 
songs to his Maker, so sweetly to the ear of his Cather- 
ine, that when she stood to hear him, he, looking upon 
her most affectionately, said, ' My beloved ! they are not 
mine. No ! they are not mine ! ' He told her they 
would not be parted ; he should always be about her to 
take care of her. A little before his death, Mrs. Blake 

15 



tot »Otf>0 of 

asked where he would be buried, and whether a dissent- 
ing minister or a clergyman of the Church of England 
should read the service. To which he answered, that as 
far as his own feelings were concerned, she might bury 
him where she pleased. But that as father, mother, aunt 
and brother were buried in Bunhill Row, perhaps it would 
be better to lie there. As for service, he should wish 
for that of the Church of England. 

" In that plain, back room, so dear to the memory of 
his friends, and to them beautiful from association with 
him — with his serene cheerful converse, his high personal 
influence, so spiritual and rare — he lay chanting Songs to 
Melodies, both the inspiration of the moment, but no 
longer as of old to be noted down. To the pious songs 
followed, about six in the summer evening, a calm and 
painless withdrawal of breath; the exact moment almost 
unperceived by his wife, who sat by his side. A humble 
female neighbour, her only other companion, said after- 
wards: 'I have been at the death, not of a man, but of 
a blessed angel.' " — Gilchrist's Life of William. Blake. 

He said he was going to that country he had all his 
life wished to see, and expressed himself happy, hoping 
for salvation through Jesus Christ. Just before he died 
his countenance became fair, his eyes brightened, and he 
burst out into singing of the things he saw in heaven. 
In truth he died like a saint, as a person who was stand- 
ing by him observed. 1 

From a letter written at the time of Blake's death. 

1 Lablache (i 794-1858), the celebrated French singer and actor, whose 
wonderful voice, embracing two full octaves, has been described as firmer 
and more expressive than that of any singer of his time or before it, at- 

16 



SDtetmgutstyeti £pm ana OTomem 

BLOOD (Thomas, an Irish adventurer who served in 
Cromwell's army. He seized the Duke of Ormond in his 
coach in London, and would have hanged him but for the 

tempted to sing upon his death-bed. He bade his son go to the piano and 
accompany him. The young man, struggling with emotion, obeyed. 
Lablache sang in English the first stanza of Home, Sweet Home. At the 
second stanza the muscles of the throat refused to move ; not a note could 
he sound. In distress and great amazement he gazed around him for a 
moment, and then, closing his eyes, fell asleep in death. 

It is recorded of Captain Hamilton, whose portrait was painted by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, that he came to his death in this wise : " He imprudently 
ventured in a boat from his ship to land at Plymouth, on a tempestuous 
day, all in his impatience to rejoin his wife ashore. The boat turned keel 
upwards, and the captain, being a good swimmer, trusted to his skill, and 
would not accept of a place on the keel, but, that he might leave room there 
for others, clung merely to the edge of the boat. His great coat was a 
hindrance to him, and this he attempted to throw off; but, in the words of 
Lord Eliot, whose too are the italics, " finding his strength fail, he told the 
men he must yield to his fate, and soon afterwards sank while singing a 
psalm . ' ' — Francis Jacox. 

When Latour was guillotined at Foix, in 1864, for the murder of a family 
of four persons, great was the throng in the streets, despite the heavy 
rain that fell ; for, to ensure a good attendance, the condemned man had 
announced his intention to compose for the occasion a series of verses, 
which he would sing on his way (in the cart, vis-a-vis with messieurs the 
headsmen) from prison to scaffold. And sing them he did, all the way 
— a matter of some three hundred and fifty yards. Lightly he tripped up 
the steps of the scaffold, and then, after a deliberate survey of the crowd be- 
low and all around, he thundered forth, tonna, the following lines — a parody, 
or rather a personal appropriation, of the Marseillaise. 

" Allons, pauvre victime, 
Ton jour de mort est arrive : 
Contre toi de la tyrannie 
Le couteau sanglant estlev6! " 

Being then tied to the plank and flung into the usual horizontal position 
in order to be brought under the blade, he still went on — Allons, pauvre 
victime, Ton jour de mort ... — until a heavy sound was heard, the blade 
fell, something else fell with it, and all was over. — Jacox. 

2 17 



!La£t MorD0 of 

resistance of his servants. In 1671 he came very near 
possessing himself of the crown jewels), 1628-1680. "/ 
do not fear death." 

Blood, that wears treason in his face, 

Villain complete in parson's gown, 
How much is he at court in grace, 

For stealing Ormond and the crown ! 
Since loyalty does no man good, 
Let's steal the king and outdo Blood. 

Lord Rochester. 

Blum (Robert, German democrat and politician, 
founder of the Schiller Association and of the German 
Catholic Church at Leipsic, popular leader of the Liberal 
party in the Revolution of 1848. On the capture of the 
city of Windischgratz he was arrested, tried by court- 
martial, convicted of having instigated the uprising, and 
shot), 1 807-1 848. " I am ready — let there be no mistake 
and no delay" to the soldiers who were charged with the 
duty of shooting him. 

He entreated as a last favour, that he might be per- 
mitted to write to his wife, which was agreed to, and the 
letter concluded with these words : " Let not my fate dis- 
courage you ; but bring up our children so that they may 
not bring disgrace on my name." " Now I am ready," 
said he, addressing the officers of justice, when the letter 
was done. Arrived at the place of execution, he said to 
one of the cuirassiers of his escort, " Here, then, we are 
come to the last stage of my journey." He desired not to 
have his eyes bandaged ; and this being refused, lest his 
unsteadiness should cause the men to miss their aim, he 

18 



2Dtetmguisfye& spnt ana Women* 

blindfolded himself, and knelt down with manly courage. 
He fell pierced by three balls, and died instantly. 

Bailey dier, ii. 366, 367. 

BoiLEAU (Boileau-Despreaux, Nicolas, eminent French 
poet and satirist), 1636-17 11. " It is a great consolation 
for a dying poet to have never written a word against 
morality." 

BOLEYN or BULLEN (Anne, wife of Henry VIII), 
1 507-1 536. Just before she knelt to lay her head on the 
block she clasped her neck with her hands, and said : 
" It is small ', very small indeed" 

BOLINGBROKE (Henry St. John, Viscount, English au- 
thor, orator, and politician), 1678-175 1. At last, though 
the precise words are not preserved, he gave directions 
that no clergyman should visit him, and avowed his ad- 
herence to the deistical principles to which he had held 
through his life. 

His last words to Lord Chesterfield were : " God, who 
placed me here, will do what he pleases with me hereafter, 
and he knows best what to do. May he bless you" 

BORGIA (Cesare), killed at the siege of the Castle of 
Biano in 1507. " I die unprepared." 

Cesare Borgia was one of the most crafty, cruel, and 
corrupt men of that corrupt age. No crime was too foul 
for him to perpetrate or be suspected of. He was charged 
with the murder of his elder brother, Giovanni, duke of 

19 



ilatft WLotte of 

Gandia, and of Alfonso, the husband of Lucrezia; with 
plotting with his father the murder of Cardinal Corneto ; 
and with incest with his sister. In his wars he had gar- 
risons massacred, and carried off bands of women to 
gratify his lust" — Cate. 

BOSSUET (Jacques Benigne, French divine and pulpit 
orator), 1 627-1 704. " I suffer the violence of pain and 
death, but I know whom I have believed." 

Bozzaris (Marcos, a Greek patriot, celebrated by 
Fitz-Greene Halleck in a thrilling poem), 1 790-1 823. 
" O, to die for Liberty is a pleasure and not a pain" 

Bradford (Alden, Secretary of the State of Massa- 
chusetts from 18 1 2 to 1824, and author of a history of 
Massachusetts and other works), 1765-1843. "Peace!" 

BRADFORD (Andrew, publisher of the American Weekly 
Mercury, the first newspaper that appeared in Philadel- 
phia. He was the only printer in Pennsylvania from 17 12 
to 1723), 1686-1742. " Lord, forgive the errata ! " 

Bradford's last words rest upon the doubtful authority 
of an old letter signed by George E. Clarkson. 

BRADFORD (John, a martyr of the Reformation), — 1555. 
"Be of good comfort, brother, for we shall have a merry 
supper with the Lord this night : if there be any way to 
heaven on horseback or in fiery chariots, this is it." These 
words were addressed to a fellow martyr. 

20 



HDtetmgttteijeD Spm ano Women* 

BRAINERD (David, Missionary to the Indians), 1718- 
1747. " Lord y now let thy servant depart in peace" 

Bremer (Fredrika, the most celebrated of Swedish 
novelists, called the "Miss Austen of Sweden"), 1802- 
1865. "A A I my child, let us speak of Christ's love — the 
best, the highest love !" 

BROCKLESBY (Richard, distinguished English physi- 
cian), 1 722-1 797. " What an idle piece of ceremony this 
buttoning and unbuttoning is to me, now" to his servants 
who had undressed him and prepared him for bed. 

Bronte (Rev. Patrick, father of Charlotte and Emily), 
1 774-1 86 1. " While there is life there is will." He 
died standing. 1 

Bronte (Emily), 18 18-1848. " No, no !" to her sister 
who begged her to allow them to put her to bed. She 
died sitting upon the sofa. 

1 Some have thought it an evidence of strength of will to die standing ; 
and some have even wished to be buried in that posture. In Oliver Hey- 
wood's Register is the following entry: — "Oct. 28, 1684. Captain Tay- 
lor's wife, of Brighouse, buried in her garden, with head upwards, standing 
upright, by her husband, daughter, and other Quakers." 

Mrs. George S. Norton, of Pawling, N. Y., was buried at her own request 
sitting upright in a rocking chair enclosed in a box made of seasoned chest- 
nut. The funeral services were held July 27, 1899. — Albany Argus. 

M. Halloin of the neighbourhood of Caen, in Normandy, who died in the 
early part of this century, when he felt his end approach inserted in his last 
will a clause expressing his desire to be buried at night, in his bed, com- 
fortably tucked in, with pillows and coverlets as he had died. As no oppo- 
sition was raised against the execution of this clause, a huge pit was sunk, 
and the corpse was lowered into its last resting place, without any alteration 
having been made in the position in which death had overtaken him. Boards 
were laid over the bed, that the falling earth might not disturb this imper- 
turbable quietist. — S. Baring-Gould : Curiosities of Olden Times. 

2* 21 



ilatft Morttf of 

BROOKS (Phillips, Bishop of Massachusetts), 183 5- 1893, 
His last written words were, " There is no other life but 
the eternal" 

Brown (John, Scottish linguist and preacher), 1720- 
1787. "My Christ." 

Brown (John, hanged December 2, 1859, for his part 
infamous Harper's Ferry insurrection), 1800-1859. "/ 
am ready at any time — do not keep me waiting" said 
to the sheriff who asked him if he should give him a pri- 
vate signal before the fatal moment. 

His last request was not complied with. The troops 
that had formed his escort had to be put in their proper 
position, and while this was going on he stood for some 
ten or fifteen minutes blindfolded; the rope round his 
neck and his feet on the treacherous platform, expecting 
instantly the fatal act; but he stood for this compara- 
tively long time upright as a soldier in position and mo- 
tionless. — J. 71 L. Preston (an eye-witness of John Brown's 
death) in the Bivouac for August, 1886. 

Browning (Elizabeth Barrett, English poet), 1805- 
186 1. "It is beautiful." 

Bruce (Robert, distinguished divine of the Scottish 
Church), about 1554-163 1. "Now God be with you, my 
dear children ; I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup 
with my Lord Jesus Christ." 

" Robert Bruce, the morning before he died, being at 
breakfast, and having, as he used, eaten an egg, said to 

22 



2E>tetmgutet)e& spm ana Women* 

his daughter : ' I think I am yet hungry ; you may bring 
me another egg.' But, having mused awhile, he said : 
'Hold, daughter, hold; my Master calls me.' With 
these words his sight failed him, on which he called for 
the Bible, and said: 'Turn to the eighth chapter of Ro- 
mans and set my finger on the words, " I am persuaded 
that neither death, nor life," etc., " shall be able to separate 
me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
Lord." ' When this was done, he said : * Now, is my 
finger upon them ?' Being told it was, he added : 'Now, 
God be with you, my dear children ; I have breakfasted 
with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ this 
night' And then he expired." 

BRUNO (Giordano, philosopher of an independent and 
speculative mind. He was burned at Rome in 1600 by 
the Inquisition on the charges of heresy and apostasy), 
1 5 50-1600. " I die a martyr and willingly — my soul 
shall mount up to heaven in this chariot of smoke." 1 

BRUTUS (Decimus Junius, one of the murderers of 
Caesar), — B. C. 33. Dion Cassius (Lib. xlvii) represents 
Brutus as quoting, just before his death, the following 
passage from Euripides, " O wretched virtue! thou art a 

1 There is a story which comes to us from Scioppius, that Bruno rejected 
"with a terrible menacing countenance " a crucifix which was held up to him, 
and which may have been heated red hot, as was customary, in order to con- 
vince the spectators of the sufferer's impiety, and prevent them from feeling 
pity for him in his distress. The story has no very good foundation, but we 
know that heated crucifixes were not uncommon among the ghostly perse- 
cutors of earlier and darker days ; and we can easily see how a man asked to 
kiss such a crucifix might exhibit "a terrible menacing countenance." 

23 



iUtft »ort>$ of 

bare name! 1 mistook thee for a substance ; but thou thy- 
self art the slave of fortune." 

BRYANT (William Cullen), American poet and jour- 
nalist), 1 794-1 878. " Whose house is this? What street 
are we in f Why did you bring me here ? " 

His death was caused by a blow on the head received 
in falling upon the stone steps in front of Mr. James 
Grant Wilson's house in New York City. He was carried 
into Mr. Wilson's house, where he soon recovered suffi- 
ciently to be removed to his own home. But his thoughts 
were clouded, and he did not know where he was. 

BUCHANAN (George, Scottish historian, scholar, and 
Latin poet), 1 506-1 582. "It matters little to me; for if 
I am but once dead they may bury me or not bury me as 
they please. They may leave my corpse to rot where I die 
if they wish." To his servant, whom he had directed to 
distribute his property among the poor, and who there- 
upon asked him, "Who will defray the expenses of your 
burial?" 

BUCHANAN (James, fifteenth President of the United 
States), 1791-1868. " Lord Almighty, as thou wilt !" 

BUCKLE (Henry Thomas, author of " The History of 
Civilization"), 1822-1862. " Poor little boys!" 

Buonarroti (Michael Angelo), 1 474-1 564. " My soul 
I resign to God, my body to the earth, and my worldly 
possessions to my relations; admonishing them that through 
their lives and in the hour of death they think upon the 

24 



2Dtetmgttt0f)e& $0m anu Women* 

sufferings of Jesus Christ. And I do desire that my 

be taken to the city of Florence for its last rest. — Vasari 

xii: 269. 

It was now necessary to convey the mortal remains to 
Florence. Opposition was feared from the Romans. It 
was asserted that it was not Michael Angelo's last wish to 
be buried in his native city. His friends went secretly to 
work. The coffin was conveyed as merchandise out oi 
the gates. 

On the eleventh of March it arrived at Florence. After 
thirty years of voluntary exile, Michael Angelo returned, 
when dead, to his native city. Only a few knew that it 
was he who entered the gate in that covered coffin. 

In the sacristy the coffin was opened for the first time. 
The people had forced their way into the church. There 
he lay ; and, in spite of three weeks having elapsed since 
his death, he seemed unchanged, and bore no symptom 
of decay ; the features undisfigured, as if he had just died. 
Grimm: Life of Michael Angelo. 

About the year 1720 the vault in Santa Croce was 
opened, and the remains of Michael Angelo were found 
not to have lost their original form. He was habited in 
the costume of the ancient citizens of Florence, in a gown 
of green velvet, and slippers of the same. — Bottari. 

Burke or BOURKE (Edmund, orator and statesman), 
1730-1797. " God bless you." 

Burn (Andrew, Major- General in the Royal Marines), 
1 742-1 8 14. "Nobody, nobody but Jesus Christ. Christ 

25 



iU0t OTortte of 

crucified is the stay of my poor soul" to one who asked 
him if he wished to see any one. 

Burns (Robert, the great peasant poet of Scotland), 
l 7S9~ l 79^>- " Oh, don't let the awkward squad fire over 
me ! " He alluded to a body of Dumfries militia, of 
which he was a member, and of which he entertained a 
very poor opinion. 1 

Burr (Aaron, third Vice-President of the United 
States. In 1804 he fought his famous duel with Hamil- 
ton), 1756-1836. "Madame" 

BURTON (Sir Richard F.), 1821-1890. "Ok Puss, 
chloroform — ether — or I am a dead man" said to his 
wife who feared to administer an anaesthetic without the 
direction of a physician. Dr. Barker in a letter to Lady 
Stisled says that a moment later " suddenly the breath- 
ing became laboured, there were a few moments of awful 
struggle for air, then, conscious to the last, he exclaimed, 
* I am a dead man,' fell back on his pillow and expired. 

1 In the Appendix of Allan Cunningham's Life of Burns we read of an 
examination of the poet's Tomb, made immediately after that life was pub- 
lished : 

" When Burns's Mausoleum was opened in March, 1834, to receive the 
remains of his widow, some residents in Dumfries obtained the consent of 
her nearest relative to take a cast from the cranium of the poet. This was 
done during the night between the 31st of March and 1st of April. Mr. 
Archibald Blacklock, surgeon, drew up the following description : 

" The cranial bones were perfect in every respect, if we except a little 
erosion of their external table, and firmly held together by their sutures, 
&c, &c. Having completed our intention [z. e., of taking a plaster cast of 
the skull, washed from every particle of sand, &c], the skull securely closed 
in a leaden case, was again committed to the earth, precisely where we found 
it. " — Archibald Blacklock. 

26 



E>tetmgufel)eu £pm an* WLomtn. 

Butler (Benjamin Franklin, attorney-general of the 
United States, from 183 1 to 1834), 1795-1858. " I have 
peace , perfect peace. ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 
whose mind is stayed on thee.' " 

Butler (Joseph, English Bishop, and author of the 
celebrated " Analogy of Religion"), 1692-1752. "/ 
have often read and thought of that scripture, but never 
till this moment did I feel its full power ', and now I die 
happy." These words were spoken to his chaplain who 
read him John vi., and called attention to the 37th verse: 
•' All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and 
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." 

Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord, one of the great- 
est of English poets), 1788-1824. "/ must sleep now." 

It has been asserted, upon what authority the compiler 
does not know, that the last words of Byron were, " Shall 
I sue for mercy ?" After a long pause he added, it is 
said, " Come, come, no weakness: let me be a man to 
the last." 

CAESAR (Caius Julius), B. C. 100-44. "^ tu Brute T 
to Marcus Brutus on discovering him among the assas- 
sins. 

Authorities differ: some have it, "What ! art thou, too, 
one of them ! Thou, my son !" and others omit the 
words " my son." If, however, the last two words are to 
be retained, they express only the difference of age be- 
tween Caesar and Brutus. There is no good reason for 
regarding them as an avowal that Brutus was the fruit of 
the connection between Julius and Servilia. 

27 



ila*t Mortis? of 

He died in the fifty- sixth year of his age, and was 
ranked amongst the gods, not only by a formal decree, 
but in the belief of the vulgar. For during the first 
games which Augustus, his heir, consecrated to his mem- 
ory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising al- 
ways about eleven o'clock; and it was supposed to be 
the soul of Caesar, now received into heaven ; for which 
reason, likewise, he is represented in his statue with a star 
on his brow. The senate-house in which he was slain 
was ordered to be shut up, and a decree was made that 
the ides of March should be called parricidal, and that 
the senate should never more assemble on that day. 

J. Eugene Reed : " The Twelve Ccesars." 

Calderon (Don Rodrigo, adventurer, who under the 
title of Marques de Siete Iglesias, rose to the first 
place in Spanish influence and power, in the time of 
Philip III.), — 1 62 1. "All my life I have carried myself 
gracefully" to his confessor who reproved him for his ill- 
timed regard for appearances when about to die upon the 
scaffold. 

CADOGAN (William Bromley, English clergyman), 
1 7 5 1 - 1 797. " / thank you for all your faithful services ; 
God bless you" to a servant who had been with him 
many years. 

Calhoun (John Caldwell, Vice-President of the United 
States, called the " Father of State-rigths "), 1782-1850. 
" The South / The South / God knows what will become 
of her !" 

28 



HDtetmguteljet) $pm ana WLomm. 

" He died under the firm impression that the South 
was betrayed and gone." 
An unpublished letter from Senator Hunter of Virginia. 

Calvin (John, one of the greatest of the Protestant 
Reformers, and " The Father of Presbyterianism "), 1509- 
1564. " Thou, Lord, bruisest me ; but I am abundantly 
satisfied, since it is from thy hand" 

On the day of his death, he appeared stronger, and 
spoke with less difficulty ; but this was the last effort of 
nature, for about eight o'clock in the evening, certain 
symptoms of dissolution manifested themselves. When 
one of his domestics brought one of the brethren, and 
me, who had only just left him, this intelligence, I re- 
turned immediately with all speed, and found he had 
died in so very tranquil a manner, that without his feet 
and hands being in any respect discomposed, or his 
breathing increased, his senses, judgment and in some 
measure his voice, remaining entire to his very last gasp, 
he appeared more to resemble one in a state of sleep than 
death. ... At two o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday, 
his body was carried to the common burying-place, called 
Plein Palais, without extraordinary pomp. His funeral, 
however, was attended by the members of the senate, the 
pastors, all the professors of the college, and a great por- 
tion of the citizens. The abundance of tears shed on 
this occasion afforded the strongest evidence of the sense 
which they entertained of their loss. According to his 
own directions, no hillock, no monument was erected to 
his memory. — Theodore Beza : Life of John Calvin. 

29 



ilasft Mortis; of 

Campbell (Thomas, English poet), 1 777-1 844. 
" When I think of the existence which shall commence when 
the stone is laid over my head, how can literary fame ap- 
pear to me, to any one, but as nothing f I believe, when I 
am gone, justice will be done to me in this way — -that I 
was a pure writer. It is an inexpressible comfort, at my 
time of life, to be able to look back and feel that I have not 
written one line against religion or virtue." 

Cano (Alonzo, " the Michael Angelo of Spain ") 1601- 
1667. " Vex me not with this thing, but give me a simple 
cross, that I may adore it, both as it is in itself and as I 
can figure it in my mind" to a priest who gave him an 
elaborate but badly carved cross. He had previously 
refused the sacraments from the hand of a priest who 
had administered them to converted Jews. 

CARLYLE (Thomas, essayist, translator, and historian), 
1 795-1 88 1. His mind was wandering when Froude 
went to his beside, but he recognized him and said : " / 
am very ill. Is it not strange that these people should 
have chosen the very oldest man in all Britain to make 
suffer in this way?" Froude answered, "We do not 
know exactly why those people act as they do. They 
may have reasons we cannot guess at. " Yes," said 
Carlyle, " it would be rash to say that they have no 
reasons." When Froude saw him next, his speech was 
gone. 

CARNOT (Marie Francois Sadi-Carnot, President of the 
French Republic, assassinated by Cesare Giovanni Santo 
in Lyons, June 24, 1894), 1 837-1 894. " I am grateful for 

30 



SDtetmguisfyeii $$m anu Women* 

your presence.'" These words were in response to those 
of Dr. Poncet who leaned over the bed on which the 
President was lying, and said, " Your friends are here, 
Monsieur le President." 

Cary (Alice, American poetess and magazine writer), 
1 820-1 87 1. u I want to go away." 

Cavour di (Camillo Benso, Count, Italian statesman), 
1 8 10-186 1. "No, your Majesty y to-morrow you will not 
see me here" to Victor Emmanuel, who, as he turned away 
in tears, said to Cavour, " I shall come to see you again 
to-morrow." 

He secured liberty of the press, and favored religious 
toleration and free trade. Among the important meas- 
ures of his administration were his rebellion against papal 
domination, and his alliance with France and England 
in the war against Russia in 1855. After the close of 
the war he devoted his efforts to the liberation and unity 
of Italy, undismayed by the angry fulminations of the 
Vatica n . — Lippincott. 

CHANNING (William Ellery, distinguished Unitarian 
clergyman and writer of rare grace and beauty. He has 
been called the " Father of American Unitarianism "), 
1780— 1842. " You need not be anxious concerning to- 
night. It will be very peaceful and quiet with me." 

He turned his face toward that sinking orb, and he and 
the sun went away together. Each, as the other, left the 
smile of his departure spread on all around, — the sun on 
the clouds ; he on the heart. — Theodore Parker. 

His remains were brought to Boston, and committed 

3i 



iUtft Worts? of 

to the grave amidst the regrets of all classes and parties ; 
and, as the procession moved from the church, the bell 
of the Catholic Cathedral tolled his knell, — a fact never 
perhaps paralleled in the history of Romanism. And so 
departed one of the great men of the Republic, — one 
who, amidst its servility to mammon and slavery, ceased 
not to recall it to the sense of its honor and duty, — a 
man whose memory his countrymen will not willingly let 
die. As the visitor wanders among the shaded aisles of 
the western part of Mount Auburn, he sees a massive 
monument of marble, designed by Allston, the poet- 
painter. Generous and brave men, from whatever clime, 
resort to it, and go from it more generous and brave ; for 
there reposes the great and good man whom we have 
commemorated. The early beams, intercepted by neigh- 
boring heights, fall not upon the spot ; but the light of 
high noon and the later and benigner rays of the day 
play through the foliage in dazzling gleams upon the 
marble, — a fitting emblem of his fame; for, when the 
later and better light which is yet to bless our desolate 
race shall come, it will fall with bright illustration on the 
character of this rare man, and on the great aims of his 
life. — Methodist Quarterly Review, January, 1849. 

CHARLES I. (Charles Stuart, King of England), 1600- 
1649. "Remember/" to William Juxon, Archbishop of 
Canterbury. Some say his last words were, " I fear not 
death ; death is not terrible to me." He was executed 
January 30, 1649. 1 

1 I mention the discovery of the body of Charles I. when George IV. was 
Prince Regent. It has been asserted, and is, I believe, true, that the nation 
wished the body of him whom they always called " the saint and martyr " 
to be removed from Windsor and buried in Westminster Abbey ; and that 
a sum of no less than ,£70,000 was entrusted by Parliament to Charles II. 

32 



2Dtetmgut£l)tfj $$m ana Women* 

CHARLES II. (of England, " The Merry Monarch "), 
1630-1685. "Don't let poor Nelly starve ! " The king 
referred to Margaret Symcott, known as Eleanor Gwynne 
or Nell Gwynn. She commenced life as an orange-girl 
in the streets of London. Later she sang in taverns, and 
after a time became a popular actress at the Theatre 
Royal. She is remembered as the mistress of Charles II. 
She seems to have been a very kind and good-hearted 
woman. She was faithful to her royal lover, and upon 
his death retired from the world and lived in seclusion. 1 

to erect a tomb over the remains of his father. If the story be true, the 
entire sum disappeared and was not put to the intended purpose. It was, 
however, supposed that the " White King's " coffin, at any rate, had been 
transferred to the Abbey. It was in order to settle a doubt on this point 
that George IV., then Prince Regent, went down into the vaults of Windsor 
with the famous physician, Sir Henry Halford. There they found the coffins 
of Henry VIII. and of his wife, Lady Jane Seymour; and between them 
lay a coffin on which were rudely scratched the letters " C. I." In order to 
be sure that this was indeed the coffin of the executed king, they opened it 
— and there lay before them the handsome face, just as Vandyke depicted it; 
though (as always happens in such cases) the nose fell in immediately that 
the corpse was exposed to the open air. Then — I simply tell the tale as it 
was told to me; for, though there must be some printed account of the 
event, I have never seen them — Sir Henry Halford took up by the hair the 
decapitated head, and placed it on the palm of his hand, which was covered 
by his silk handkerchief. When he replaced the head in the coffin the ver- 
tebra of the neck, which had been smoothly severed by the axe of the execu- 
tioner, was lying on his handkerchief; and the Prince Regent remarked to 
Sir Henry that this would be an interesting relic for him. He took it ; and 
had it set in gold with the inscription, " Os Caroli Primi, heu intercisum." 
I believe that, by the wish and right-feeling of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 
this relic of the hapless king has been replaced in the coffin. Everyone will 
recall the sanguinary epigram of Lord Byron upon the incident which I 
have narrated. — Farrar. 

1 In his History of the Stage, Curll states that Nell first captivated the 
king by her manner of delivering the epilogue to Dryden's Tyrannic Love ; 
or, The Royal Martyr. The tragedy was founded upon the story of the 
martyrdom of St. Catherine, by way of compliment to Catherine of Braganza. 
She personated Valeria, the daughter of Maximin, tyrant of Rome. 

3 33 



lUst OTortis? of 

Charles V. (of France, called "The Wise." He was 
the son of John II. who was made prisoner by the Black 
Prince at Poitiers), 1337-1380. "Ah, Jesus!" 

CHARLES IX. (of France, second son of Henry II. and 
Catharine de' Medici), 1550-1574. " Nurse, nurse, what 
murder ! what blood 1 Oh / I have done wrong. God par- 
don me ! " The king- referred, no doubt, to the massacre 
of St. Bartholomew, which he occasioned. Voltaire tells 
us his dying remorse was so great that " blood oozed 
from his pores." 1 There are recorded other examples of 
bloody sweat. It is said of a man at Lyons that when 
sentenced to death a bloody sweat covered his body. In 
the Medical Gazette, December, 1848, is an account by 
Dr. Schneider of some Norwegian sailors who, in a tre- 
mendous storm, sweated blood from extreme terror. See 
also the British Critic, 1831, p. 1. When our Saviour 
bore the sins of the world in the Garden of Gethsemane, 
" his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling 
down to the ground." (Luke xxii., 44.) 

1 The massacre of St. Bartholomew lasted seven days, during which more 
than 5,000 persons were slain in Paris, and about 50,000 in the country. 
During all this season of murder, the king betrayed neither pity nor remorse, 
but fired with his long gun at the poor fugitives across the river; and on 
viewing the body of Coligni on a gibbet, he exulted with a fiendish malig- 
nity. In early life this monster had been noted for his cruelty: nothing 
gave him greater pleasure than cutting off the heads of asses or pigs with a 
single blow from his couteau de chasse. After the massacre; he is said to 
have contracted a singularly wild expression of feature, and to have slept 
little and waked in agonies. He attributed his thirst for human blood to the 
circumstance of his mother having at an early period of his life familiarized 
his mind with the brutal sport of hunting bullocks, and with all kinds of 
cruelty. — Win-slow' s Anatomy of Suicide, p. 32, note. 

34 



2Dt£ttngutel)eD $$m an& OTomem 

CHARLES V. (Don Carlos I. of Spain, afterwards Em- 
peror of Germany), 1500-1558. " Now, Lord, I go ! " a 
moment later, with eyes fixed upon the crucifix, he added, 
" Ay, Jesus ! " and expired. 

CHARLEMAGNE (Charles I., King of France and Em- 
peror of the West), 742-814. "Lord, into thy hands I 
commend my spirit." 

CHARLOTTE (Augusta, commonly called the Princess, 
daughter of George IV. and Queen Caroline), 1796-18 17. 
" You make me drink. Pray leave me quiet. I find it 
affects my head" She died in childbed. 

CHASTELARD, DE (Pierre de Boscosel, a young French 
poet and musician who became enamoured of Mary 
Queen of Scots, and concealing himself in her bedcham- 
ber, attempted her honor. Mary pardoned his offence, 
but upon his repeating it, he was executed at Edinburgh), 
1 540-1 563. He died chanting a love-song, having on 
the way to the scaffold prepared his mind for the work 
of the executioner by reading Ronsard's hymn on death. 

CHAUCER (Geoffrey, " Father of English Poetry"), 
1 328-1400. Chaucer died repeating the " Balade made 
by Geoffrey Chaucyer, when upon his dethe-bedde, lying 
in his grete anguysse." 

Chenier (Andre), 1 762-1 794. He was waiting for 
his turn to be dragged to the guillotine, when he com- 
menced this poem : 

" Comme un dernier rayon, comme un dernier zephyre 
Anime la fin d'un beau jour ; 

35 



ila$t Worte of 

Au pied de V echafaud f essaie encore ma lyre, 
Peut-etre est ce bientot mon tour ; 

" Peut-etre avant que Vheure en cercle promenee 

Ait pose sur V email brillant, 
Dans les soix ante pas ou sa route est bornee, 

Son pied sonore et vigilant, 

" Le sommeil du tombeau pre s sera me paupiere — " 

Here, at this pathetic line, was Andre Chenier summoned 
to the guillotine ! Never was a more beautiful effusion 
of grief interrupted by a more affecting incident. — Curi- 
osities of Literature. 

Chesterfield (Philip Dormer Stanhope), 1 694-1 773. 
" Give Day Rolles a chair" 

CHRYSOSTOM (John called "Saint"), 350-407. He 
died at the close of church-service, with the words, 
" Glory to God for all things. Amen." 

Splendor of intellect, mellowness of heart, and gor- 
geousness of fancy were the characteristics of this greatest 
of preachers. 

Chudleigh (Elizabeth, Duchess of Kingston. She 
was an adventuress famous throughout England for her 
wonderful beauty and for her wild and wayward life), 
1 720-1 788. "/ will lie down on the couch ; I can sleep, 
and after that I shall be entirely recovered." 

Cleopatra (Queen of Egypt, daughter of Ptolemy 
Auletes), B. c. 69-30. " Here thou art, then / " These 

36 



H>tstmguteJ)e& spot anti W&omm. 

words, which are traditional, she is said to have addressed 
to the asp with which she committed suicide. 

When she heard that it was Caesar's intention to send 
her into Syria, she asked permission to visit Antony's 
tomb, over which she poured forth most bitter lamenta- 
tions. " Hide me, hide me," she exclaimed, "with thee 
in the grave; for life, since thou hast left it, has been 
misery to me." After crowning the tomb with flowers, 
she kissed it, and ordered a bath to be prepared. She 
then sat down to a magnificent supper, after which a 
peasant came to the gate with a small basket of figs cov- 
ered with leaves, which was admitted into the monument. 
Amongst the figs and under the leaves was concealed the 
asp, which Cleopatra applied to her bosom. She was 
found dead, attired in one of her most gorgeous dresses, 
decorated with brilliants, and lying on her golden bed. 

Winslozv : Anatomy of Suicide. 

Coke (Sir Edward, Lord Chief Justice of England, and 
author of the celebrated work, " Coke upon Littleton "), 
155 2- 1633. " Thy kingdom come, thy will be done" 

COLLINS (Anthony, essayist and deist), 1 676-1 729. 
"I have always endeavored, to the best of my ability, to 
serve God, my king and my country. I go to the place 
God has designed for those who love him." Some say his 
last words were, " The Catholic faith is, to love God and 
to love man. This is the best faith, and to its entertain- 
ment I exhort you all." 

Columbus (Christopher, discovered America October 
12th, 1492), 1435-1506. " In manus tuos, Domine,com- 
mendo spiritum meum." 

3* 37 



Hm Moras of 

Columbus died at Valladolid, a disappointed, broken- 
hearted old man ; little comprehending what he had 
done for mankind, and still less the glory and homage 
that through all future generations awaited his name. 

Ticknor. 

CONFUCIUS (His name was Kong, but his disciples 
called him Kong-Fu-tse, which is " Kong the Master," 
and this the Jesuit missionaries Latinized into Confucius), 
B. c. 55 1-479. " I have taught men how to live." 

CONRADIN (Konradin of Swabia, the last descendant 
of the imperial House of Hohenstaufen, son of Konrad 
IV.), 1 25 2-1 268. " O my mother! how deep will be thy 
sorrow at the news of this day ! " 

A few minutes before his execution, Conradin, on the 
scaffold, took off his glove and threw it into the midst of 
the crowd as a gage of vengeance, requesting that it 
might be carried to his heir, Peter of Arragon. This duty 
was undertaken by the Chevalier de Walburg, who, after 
many hairbreadth escapes, succeeded in fulfilling his 
prince's last command. — Chambers' Encyclopcedia. 

CORDAY d'Armans, DE (Marie Anne Charlotte, usu- 
ally called Charlotte Corday, a young woman of noble 
family and of a courageous and lofty spirit. She stabbed 
Marat, one of the most bloodthirsty of all the vile mon- 
sters of the French Revolution), 1768-1793. "This is 
the toilette of death, arranged by somewhat rude hands, 
but it leads to immortality." She must have spoken later, 
perhaps many times, but the words recorded are the last 
of which we can be certain. 

38 



2E>t£tmgttt0t)eD ^m ant) Women* 

One description of Charlotte Corday says that she was 
of medium height, with an oval face, fine features, blue 
eyes, a good nose, beautiful mouth, chestnut hair, lovely 
hands and arms ; another says that she was a virago, 
awkward, dirty, insolent, rubicund, and fat; and that if 
she had been pretty she would have been more anxious 
to live. — La Demagogie. 

We read in the Moniteur, " Charlotte Corday has been 
executed, the 17th, about seven P. M., in the Place de la 
Revolution, in the (red) garb of assassins, and her goods 
confiscated to the Republic." The executioner . . . struck 
the bleeding head, when he showed it, according to cus- 
tom, to those present ; the cheeks were still crimson, and 
it was said that they were so in consequence of the in- 
sult thus offered to them. 1 — La Demagogie. 

CosiN or Cozen (Dr. John, English divine), 1594- 
1672. "Lord!" 

He raised his hand and cried, " Lord ! " After this he 
expired without pain. It is thought that he wished to 
repeat his frequent prayer, " Lord Jesus, come quickly ! " 
He desired above all things to die suddenly and without 
distress of body or mind. 

COWPER (William, distinguished English poet), 173 1— 
1800. " What can it signify f '" Said to Miss Perowne, 
one of his attendants, who offered him some refreshments. 
He died in the gloom of a deep melancholy from which 
he had suffered during a considerable portion of his life. 

1 It is a tradition in Corsica that when St. Pantaleon was beheaded, the 
caput mortuum,a.s it might have been thought, rose from the block and sang. 

39 



flaw Wortis? of 

CRATES (of Thebes, Cynic philosopher), about B. c. 
330 — he was living in B. c. 307. "Ah! poor hump- 
back! thy many long years are at last conveying thee to 
the tomb : thou shall soon visit the place of Plato" 

Crates was deformed and ugly in shape and features, 
and to render himself still more hideous he sewed sheep- 
skins on his coat, so that it was difficult at first sight to say 
to what species of animal he belonged. He was, however, 
noted for self-control, abstinence, and simplicity of life. 

Cromwell (Oliver), 1599-1658. "My desire is to 
make what haste I may to be gone" Cromwell died of 
grief at the loss of his favorite daughter. 

CRANMER (Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury), 1489- 
1556. " This unworthy right hand" 

When the fagots were lighted he stretched out his right 
hand, which had signed the recantation, into the flames, 
and there held it firmly till it was a mere cinder. This 
took place before his body was reached by the fire. 

CROME (John, English landscape painter), 1 766-1 821. 
" O Hobbima, Hobbima, how I do love thee ! " 

CROSBY (Howard, Presbyterian clergyman, chancellor 
of the University of New York, and a man of great clas- 
sical learning), 1 826-1 89 1. " My heart is resting sweetly 
with Jesus, and my hand is in his" 

CULLEN (William, distinguished physician), 171 2-1 790. 
" / wish I had the power of writing, for then I would de- 
scribe to you how pleasant a thing it is to die." 

40 



H>t£thtgttt0l)e& gpzn ant) Women* 

Cummins (George David, first Bishop of the Reformed 
Episcopal Church), 1 822-1 876. "Jesus/ precious 
Saviour /" 

His last message to his church was : " Tell them to go 
forward and do a good work." 

CuviER (George Chretien Leopold Frederic Dagobert, 
Baron, one of the greatest naturalists of modern times, 
and founder of the science of comparative anatomy), 
1 769-1 832. "It is delightful to see those whom I love 
still able to swallow" To his daughter-in-law, to whom 
he handed a glass of lemonade he found himself unable 
to swallow. 

Damiens, (Robert Francois, known for his attempt to 
assassinate Louis XV., and called because of his crimes 
Robert le Diable), 171 5-1757. " O death, why art thou 
so long in coming ? " 

The punishment inflicted upon Damiens for his attack 
upon the king was horrible. The hand by which he at- 
tempted the murder was burned at a slow fire ; the fleshy 
parts of his body were then torn off by pincers; and 
finally, he was dragged about for an hour by four strong 
horses, while into his numerous wounds were poured 
molten lead, resin, oil and boiling wax. Towards night, 
the poor wretch expired, having by an effort of will al- 
most superhuman, kept his resolution of not confessing 
who were his accomplices if, indeed, he had any. His 
remains were immediately burned, his house was de- 
stroyed, his father, wife and daughter were banished from 

41 



ilast WorU0 of 

France forever, and his brothers and sisters compelled to 
change their names. — Chambers. 

D ANTON (Georges Jacques), 1 759-1 794. " You will 
show my head to the people — it will be worth the display ! " 
Said to the executioner. 

When the judges asked him his name, residence, etc., 
he answered, " My name is Danton ; my dwelling will 
soon be in annihilation ; but my name will live in the 
Pantheon of history ! " — Lamartine. 

DARWIN, Charles, one of the most eminent of English 
naturalists), 1 809-1 882. " I am not in the least afraid to 
die." 

DARWIN (Erasmus, English poet and physician. Au- 
thor of "The Botanic Garden"), 1731-1802. " There is 
no time to be lost." 

It is reported at Lichfield, that, perceiving himself 
growing rapidly worse, he said to Mrs. Darwin, " My 
dear, you must bleed me instantly." "Alas!" said she, 
"I dare not, lest — " "Emma, will you? There is no 
time to be lost." " Yes, my dear father, if you will direct 
me." At this moment he sank into his chair and expired. 

The Book of Death. 

De Lagny (Thomas Fantet, French mathematician), 
1 660-1 734. " 1 4-4-," in response to a friend who asked for 
the square of 12. 

Delgado (Gen. E., the Honduras Revolutionist), 
— 1886. " We are ready — soldiers , fire ! " 

42 



He was shot with three other revolutionists (Lieut. -Col. 
Indalecio Garcia, Commander Meguel Cortez, and Lieut. 
Gabriel Loyant), at Comayagua, October 18, 1886. 

It was the desire of President Bogran to spare Gen. 
Delgado's life if possible, and any pretext would have 
been readily seized upon to give him an opportunity of 
saving himself and at the same time vindicate the tribunal 
which had condemned him. The President sent a mes- 
senger to him to say that if he would promise to never 
again take up arms against Honduras he should receive a 
pardon. The soldier was too brave to accept even his 
life on these terms, and he sent back word that he would 
see Honduras in an even more tropical climate than she 
now enjoys before he would accept his pardon on such a 
pledge. When his answer was received there was nothing 
left but to prepare for the execution. 

On the morning of their execution the men were taken 
to a point near the Church of Comayagua ; four coffins 
were placed near the wall and the four condemned men 
were led to them. They accepted their positions as easily 
and gracefully as if they were in boxes at the opera, and 
not a face was blanched, not a nerve quivered. Gen. 
Delgado asked and received permission to order the guard 
to fire, which he did, first requesting them not to shoot 
him in the face, but in the breast. There was no rattle, 
no scattering reports, but one sharp, stunning report. 
The four men for half a second remained in an upright 
position, as if still unhurt, and then rolled over, limp and 
bloody, dead. The soldiers had complied with Gen. 
Delgado's request, for three balls had penetrated his 
breast. 

43 



iLa^t Mortis; of 

Demorax (Greek philosopher), second century B. c. 
"You may go home, the show is over" — Lucian. 

De Quincey (Thomas, " The English opium-eater "), 
1 785-1 859. "Sister! sister! sister!" During his last 
illness he was subject to fits of delirium, and in one of 
these he died. His last words indicate that he was living 
over in his mind the scenes of early days. 

Mr. Mackay gives this account of the condition of De 
Quincey's grave as it was in 1889: 

" The mural tablet is not weather-stained, and his grave 
is not utterly neglected, but well cared for by some loving 
hand or other. When in Edinburgh I almost always 
visit his grave, and only on Thursday, May 23 last, I was 
there, and as the birds sang about in the grounds, the 
trees rustled, and the sun shone, I could hardly think of 
him sleeping in a more lovely spot, save it might be along 
with Wordsworth and Hartley Coleridge in the church- 
yard at Grasmere." 

A bright, ready, and melodious talker, but in the end 
inconclusive and long-winded. One of the smallest man- 
figures I ever saw ; shaped like a pair of tongs, and hardly 
above five feet in all. When he sate, you would have 
taken him, by candle-light, for the beautifulest little child, 
blue-eyed, sparkling face, had there not been a something 
too which said, " Eccovi — this child has been in hell." 

Carlyle. 

DESMOULINS (Benedict Camille, prominent French 
democrat and pamphleteer, called the " Attorney-general 
of the Lamp-post," because of his part in the death of 
those who were hung by the mob in the street), 1762— 

44 



HDtetmgtustyeD $$m ana Women* 

1794. "Behold, then, the recompense reserved for the first 
apostle of liberty." Said while standing before the guillo- 
tine, and looking at the axe. When at the bar of Tinville 
he was asked his age, name, and residence, he said : " My 
age is that of the sansculotte Jesu — I am thirty-three ; 
an age fatal to revolutionists." 

De Soto (Hernando, Spanish explorer, discoverer of 
the Mississippi River), about 1496-1542. " Luis de Mos- 
coso — the name of his successor. He must have spoken 
later, for he lived twenty-four hours after appointing his 
successor, but what he said the compiler has been unable 
to discover. 

Believing his death near at hand, on the twentieth of 
May he held a last interview with his followers and, 
yielding to the wishes of his companions, who obeyed 
him to the end, he named a successor. On the next day 
he died. Thus perished Ferdinand de Soto, the governor 
of Cuba, the successful associate of Pizarro. His miser- 
able end was the more observed from the greatness of his 
former prosperity. His soldiers pronounced his eulogy 
by grieving for their loss ; the priests chanted over his 
body the first requiems that were ever heard on the 
waters of the Mississippi. To conceal his death, his body 
was wrapped in a mantle, and in the stillness of midnight 
was sunk in the middle of the stream. — Bancroft. 

De Witt (Cornelius, Dutch naval officer and states- 
man), 1625-1672. 

One Tichelaer, a barber, a man noted for infamy, ac- 
cused Cornelius de Witt of endeavoring by bribes to en- 

45 



ilast Mortis; of 

gage him in the design of poisoning the Prince of Orange. 
The accusation, though attended with the most improbable, 
and even absurd circumstances, was greedily received by 
the credulous multitude ; and Cornelius was cited before a 
court of judicature. The judges, either blinded by the 
same prejudices, or not daring to oppose the popular 
torrent, condemned him to suffer the question. This 
man, who had bravely served his country in war, and 
who had been invested with the highest dignities, was 
delivered into the hands of the executioner, and torn in 
pieces by the most inhuman torments. Amidst the 
severe agonies which he endured, he still made protesta- 
tions of his innocence, and frequently repeated an ode of 
Horace, which contained sentiments suited to his deplor- 
able condition : "Justum et tenacem propositi virum" etc} 

1 The man whose mind, on virtue bent, 
Pursues some greatly good intent, 

With undiverted aim, 
Serene beholds the angry crowd; 
Nor can their clamors, fierce and loud, 

His stubborn honor tame. 

Not the proud tyrant's fiercest threat, 
Nor storms, that from their dark retreat 

The lawless surges wake ; 
Not Jove's dread bolt, that shakes the pole, 
The firmer purpose of his soul 

With all its power can shake. 

Should nature's frame in ruins fall, 
And chaos o'er the sinking ball 

Resume the primeval sway, 
His courage chance and fate defies, 
Nor feels the wreck of earth and skies 

Obstruct its destined way. 

Blacklocke. 

4 6 



aDtetinguisfyea $$m an* Womm* 

The judges, however, condemned him to lose his 
offices, and to be banished the commonwealth. The 
pensionary, who had not been terrified from performing 
the part of a kind brother and faithful friend during this 
prosecution, resolved not to desert him on account of the 
unmerited infamy which was endeavored to be thrown 
upon him. He came to his brother's prison, determined 
to accompany him to the place of exile. The signal was 
given to the populace. They rose in arms ; they broke 
open the doors of the prison ; they pulled out the two 
brothers, and a thousand hands vied who should first be 
imbrued in their blood. Even their death did not sati- 
ate the brutal rage of the multitude. They exercised on 
the dead bodies of those virtuous citizens indignities too 
shocking to be recited ; and till tired with their own fury, 
they permitted not the friends of the deceased to approach 
or to bestow on them the honors of a funeral, silent and 
unattended. — Hume's History of England. 

Dickens (Charles), 18 12-1870. " On the ground." 
He was losing his balance and feared that he would fall 
to the floor. 

DIDEROT (Denis, French philosopher, atheist and 
chief among the Encyclopedists), 171 2-1 784. On the 
evening of the 30th of July, 1784, he sat down to table, 
and at the end of the meal took an apricot. His wife, 
with kindly solicitude, remonstrated. " Mais quel diable 
de mal veux-te que cela me fosse? " he said, and ate the 
apricot. Then he rested his elbow on the table, trifling 
with some sweetmeats. His wife asked him a question ; 

47 



!La$t Wot&s? of 

on receiving no answer, she looked up and saw that he 
was dead. He had died as the Greek poet says that 
men died in the golden age, " They passed away as if 
mastered by sleep." — John Morley. 

Dillon (Wentworth, Earl of Roscommon, English 
poet and translator), about 163 3-1 684. His last words 
were from his own translation of the " Dies Irae " : 

"My God, my Father, and my Friend, 
Do not forsake me in the end" 

DODD (Rev. Dr. William, author of numerous religious 
and other works. He was the founder of "The Magda- 
len " for reclaiming young women fallen from virtue, 
the "Poor Debtors' Society" and the "Humane So- 
ciety." He was executed for forgery), 1 729-1 777. Just 
before his death he said to the executioner, " Come to 
me," and when the executioner obeyed, the doctor whis- 
pered to him. What he said is not known, but it was ob- 
served that the man had no sooner driven away than he 
took the place where the cart had been, under the gib- 
bet, and held the doctor's legs, as if to steady the body, 
and the unhappy man appeared to die without pain. 

Dominic (St., founder of the order of Dominicans and 
of the order of Preaching Friars. He was one of the in- 
stigators of the cruel and inhuman crusade against the 
Albigenses about 121 2. Many strange stories are told 
of him, and among these that he offered himself for sale 

48 



SDisftmgutetjeD £peu anti Women* 

to the highest bidder, in order to raise money for chari- 
table purposes), n 70-1 221. "Under the feet of my 
friars" when asked where he would like to be buried. 



Donne (John, D. D., English poet and theologian), 
1 573-163 1. "/ were miserable, if I might not die." 
Some say his last words were : " I repent of my life ex- 
cept that part of it which I spent in communion with 
God, and in doing good." 

Dr. Donne was formerly Dean of St. Paul's. Among 
other preparations for his death, he ordered an urn to be 
cut in wood, on which was to be placed a board of the 
exact height of his body. He then caused himself to 
be tied up in a winding-sheet. Thus shrouded, and 
standing with his eyes shut, and with just so much of the 
sheet put aside as might discover his death- like face, 
he caused his portrait to be taken, which, when finished, 
was placed near his bedside, and there remained to the 
hour of his death. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathe- 
dral, where a monument was erected over him, composed 
of white marble, and carved from the above-mentioned 
picture, by order of his dearest friend and executor, Dr. 
King, Bishop of Chichester. 1 

1 Charles V., of Spain, seems to have entertained the same morbid desire 
for a personal acquaintance with his own post-mortem appearance and condi- 
tion. In Robertson's History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. we 
have this account of the monarch's attendance upon his own funeral : " He 
resolved to celebrate his own obsequies before his death. He ordered his 
tomb to be erected in the chapel of the monastery. His domestics marched 
thither in funeral procession, with black tapers in their hands. He himself 
followed in his shroud. He was laid in his coffin with much solemnity. 

4 49 



!la$t OTfotfctf of 

DORNEY (Henry, a man of peculiarly beautiful life and 
religious experience. His " Contemplations and Letters," 
published after his death, had a large circulation), 1613- 
1683. " I am almost dead ; lift me up a little higher" to 
his wife. 

Drew (Samuel, English preacher and author. He 
commenced life as an infidel shoemaker, but after conver- 
sion gave himself to constant study of the Bible and 
Christian Theology. He wrote the once famous book, 
" The Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul "), 
1 765-1 833. " Thank God, to-morrow I shall join the 
glorious company above." Last recorded word,'*. 

EDWARD I. (of England, surnamed " Longshanks "), 

1 239-1 307. " Carry my bones before you on your march, 

for the rebels will not be able to endure the sight of me, 

The service for the dead was chanted, and Charles joined in the prayers 
which were offered up for the rest of his soul, mingling his tears with those 
which his attendants shed, as if they had been celebrating a real funeral. 
The ceremony closed with sprinkling holy water on the coffin in the usual 
form, and all the assistants retiring, the doors of the chapel were shut. Then 
Charles rose out of the coffin, and withdrew to his apartment, full of those 
awful sentiments which such a singular solemnity was calculated to inspire." 
This story is somewhat changed in Stirling's " Cloister Life of the Emperor 
Charles V." 

If I must die, I'll snatch at every thing 
That may but mind me of my latest breath ; 
Death's-heads, Graves, Knells, Blacks, Tombs, 
all these shall bring 
Into my soul such useful thoughts of death, 
That this sable king of fears 
Shall not catch me unawares. 

Quarles. 

50 



HDtetmgtttsfjefc spm anti Women* 

alive or dead" to his son Edward. 1 He died while en- 
deavoring to subdue a revolt in Scotland. 

Edward VI. (son of Henry VIII. and Queen Jane 
Seymour), 1 537—1 553- " Lord take my spirit." 

Edward (Prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince 
from the color of his armor), 1330-1376. " / give thee 
thanks, God, for all thy benefits, and with all the pains 
of my soul L humbly beseech thy mercy to give me remission 
of those sins I have wickedly committed against thee ; and 
of all mortal men whom willingly or ignorantly L have 
offended, with all my heart I desire forgiveness" 

EDWARDS (Jonathan, president of the College of New 
Jersey and one of the greatest of metaphysicians), 1703- 
1757. " Trust in God and you need not fear," to one who 
lamented his approaching death as a frown on the college 
and a heavy stroke to the church. 

1 These instructions were probably ignored ; for, when his tomb was 
opened by the Society of Antiquaries in 1 771, those present gazed for a 
moment on the features of the great victor before they sank into dust. The 
gold cloth was still folded round the colossal corpse ; and the cast in the 
eyes was distinctly noticeable. The snow-white hair still remained. The 
coffin was then filled with pitch. — Farrar. 

John Zisca, general of the insurgents who took up arms in 1419 against 
the Emperor Sigismund, seems to have had a like spirit with Edward I. 
He would revenge the deaths of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who had 
been cruelly burned at the stake for their religious faith. He defeated the 
Emperor in several pitched battles, and gave orders that, after his death, 
they should make a drum out of his skin. The order was most religiously 
obeyed, and those very remains of the enthusiastic Zisca proved, for many 
years, fatal to the emperor, who, with difficulty, in the space of sixteen 
years, recovered Bohemia, assisted by the forces of Germany. The insur- 
gents were 40,000 in number, and well disciplined. 

51 



ilast Wort* of 

The most awfully tremendous of all metaphysical divines 
is the American ultra Calvinist, Jonathan Edwards, whose 
book on " Original Sin " I unhappily read when a very 
young man. It did me an irreparable mischief. 

An English author. 

Egbert (Col. Harry C), — 1899. " Good-by, Gen- 
eral ; Fm done. Pm too old" said to Gen. Wheaton, 
who bending over the wounded officer, exclaimed, " Nobly 
done, Egbert ! " Col. Egbert was killed near Manila in 
the war between the United States and the Philip- 
pines. 

In all his army service he was wounded four times be- 
fore he received his death wound. He was accounted 
one of the most competent officers in the army, and in 
action it was said of him that the army had no officer 
more dashing, with the possible exception of Gen. Guy 
V. Henry, now in command of the United States forces 
in Porto Rico. He was a little man, not above 5 feet 5 
inches, and weighed only about no pounds. He had 
reddish hair, streaked with gray, and wore a red mustache 
and imperial. In plain clothes he was most immaculate, 
and he was called the best dressed officer in the army. 
N. Y. Daily Sun, March 27, 18pp. 

ELDON (John Scott, Earl, Lord Chancellor of Eng- 
land), 1 750-1 838. "// matters not where I am going 
whether the weather be cold or hot" to one who spoke 
to him about the weather. 

He was a bigoted admirer of the law, of which he was 
so consummate a master. Projects of law reform cut him 

52 



H>t#tmgtttef)etJ 3pm ant) Wornm, 

to the soul, and he has been represented as shedding 
tears on the abolition of the punishment of death for 
stealing five shillings in a dwelling-house. 

Appletoris Cyclopcedia of Biography. 

ELIOT (Rev. John, commonly called " The Apostle to 
the Indians"), 1604-1690. " O, come in glory! I have 
long wailed for Thy coming. Let no dark cloud rest on 
the work of the Indians. Let it live when I am dead. 
Welcome joy ! " 

ELIZABETH (Queen of England, and daughter of Henry 
VIII. , by Anne Boleyn), 15 33-1603. "All my possessions 
for one moment of timer 

Some give her last words thus : " I will have no rogue's 
son in my seat." 

When Sir Robert Cecil declared that she must go to 
bed and receive medical aid, the word roused her like a 
trumpet. "Must!" she exclaimed, "is must a word to 
be addressed to princes ? Little man, little man ! thy 
father, were he alive, durst not have used that word." 
Then, as her anger spent itself, she sank into the old de- 
jection : "Thou art so presumptuous," she said, "because 
thou knowest that I shall die." She rallied once more 
when the ministers beside her named Lord Beauchamp, 
the heir to the Suffolk claim, as a possible successor. 
" I will have no rogue's son," she cried hoarsely, " in my 
seat." But she gave no sign save a motion of the head 
at the mention of the King of Scots. She was, in fact, 
fast becoming insensible ; and early the next morning, 

4* 53 



!La$t OTorte of 

on March 24, 1603, the life of Elizabeth, a life so great, so 
strange and lonely in its greatness, ebbed quietly away. 1 

ELIZABETH (Philippine Marie Helene, usually called 
Madame Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI.), 1764- 1794. 
"In the name of modesty, cover my bosom ! " 

When she ascended the scaffold, the executioner rudely 
undid the clasp which closed the veil across her breast. 
"In the name of modesty," she said to one of the by- 
standers whose arms were not tied, " cover my bosom ! " 

Alison, in his " History of Europe," calls attention to 
the fact that " a similar instance of heroic virtue in death 
occurred in a female martyr in the early Christian church. 
Perpetua and Felicitas, both Christians, were sentenced, 
in the year 203, to be killed by wild cattle at Carthage. 
They were both attacked, accordingly, by furious bulls, 
who tossed them on their horns. So violent was the 
shock that Perpetua fell on the ground stunned ; but, 
partly recovering her senses, she was seen gathering 
her torn clothes about her, so as to conceal her limbs, and 
after tying her hair, she helped Felicitas to rise, who had 
been severely wounded ; and, standing together, they 
calmly awaited another attack." 

EMERSON (Ralph Waldo, American essayist, poet, and 
speculative philosopher), 1 803-1882. 

1 There is a dim tradition that, much more than a century ago, the tomb un- 
der which the two sister-queens — Mary, the Roman Catholic, and Elizabeth, 
the Protestant, regno consortes et urna — lie side by side had fallen into dis- 
repair, and that a bold Westminster boy crept into the hollow vault, and, 
through an aperture in the coffin, laid his hand on the heart of the mighty 
Tudor queen. — Farrar. 

54 



H>t£tmgutet)e& $$m ant) Women* 

For the day or two before his death he was troubled 
with the thought that he was away from home, detained 
by illness at some friend's house, and that he ought to 
make the effort to get away and relieve him of the incon- 
venience. But to the last there was no delirium ; in gen- 
eral he recognized every one and understood what was 
said to him, though he was sometimes unable to make 
intelligible reply. He took affectionate leave of his fam- 
ily and the friends who came to see him for the last time, 
and desired to see all who came. To his wife he spoke 
tenderly of their life together and her loving care of him ; 
they must now part, to meet again and part no more. 
Then he smiled and said, " 0, that beautiful boy ! " 

I was permitted to see him on the day of his death. 
He knew me at once, greeted me with the familiar smile, 
and tried to rise and to say something, but I could not 
catch the words. 

He was buried on Sunday, April 30, in Sleepy Hollow, 
a beautiful grove on the edge of the village, consecrated 
as a burial-place in 1855, Emerson delivering the ad- 
dress. Here, at the foot of a tall pine-tree upon the top 
of the ridge in the highest part of the grounds, his body 
was laid, not far from the graves of Hawthorne and of 
Thoreau, and surrounded by those of his kindred. 

James Elliot Cabot. 

Emmet (Robert, "an eloquent Irish enthusiast and 
sincere patriot, and one of the chiefs of the ' United 
Irishmen ' "), 1 780-1 803. "Not — " 

He said on the scaffold, at the close of a brief address : 
"My friends, I die in peace, and with sentiments of uni- 

55 



ilast OTorte of 

versal love and kindness towards all men." He then shook 
hands with some persons on the platform, presented his 
watch to the executioner, and removed his stock. The 
immediate preparations for execution then were carried 
into effect, he assisted in adjusting the rope round his 
neck, and was then placed on the plank underneath the 
beam, and the cap was drawn over his face; but he con- 
trived to raise his hand, partly removed it, and spoke a 
few words in a low tone to the executioner. The cap 
was replaced, and he stood with a handkerchief in his 
hand, the fall of which was to be the signal for the last 
act of the " finisher of the law." After standing on the 
plank for a few seconds the executioner said : " Are you 
ready, sir?" and Emmet said, "Not yet." There was 
another momentary pause ; no signal was given ; again 
the executioner repeated the question, " Are you ready, 
sir?" And again Emmet said, " Not yet." The ques- 
tion was put a third time, and Emmet pronounced the 
word " Not " ; but before he had time to utter another 
word the executioner tilted one end of the plank off the 
ledge. — Madden 's Life of Emmet. 

Let no man write my epitaph ; for as no man who 
knows my motives dare now vindicate them, let not 
prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them and me 
repose in obscurity and peace, and my tomb remain un- 
inscribed until other times and other men can do justice 
to my character. When my country takes her place 
among the nations of the earth — then, and not till then — 
let my epitaph be written. I have done. 

From Emmefs Last Speech. 

See Moore's beautiful poem on Emmet's fate and on 

56 



2Di£tmgtus1)et> SjDm ant) Homm* 

his attachment to Miss Curran in two of the Irish 

Melodies. 

EMMONS (Rev. Dr. Nathaniel, distinguished New Eng- 
land theologian and divine), 1 745-1 840. " I am ready." 

ENGHIEN d' (Louis Antoine Henri de Bourbon, Due), 
1 772-1 804. To the soldiers who had pointed their fusees 
he said: "Grenadiers! lower your arms, otherwise you 
will miss me or only wound me" 

ERASMUS (surnamed Roterdamensis, Dutch scholar. 
He was an illegitimate son of Gerard Praet, a citizen of 
Gonda), 1467-15 36. " Domine I Domine I fac finem I 
fac finem ! " 

EVERERUARD (Charles de, Saint-Denis, French courtier, 
soldier, wit and litterateur. He was a brave man, but of 
flippant disposition), 1613-1703. " With all my heart : 
I would fain be reconciled to my stomach, which no longer 
performs its usual functions" said to an ecclesiastic who 
asked him if he would be reconciled. During his last 
days he gave no attention to religious matters, and only 
regretted that he could not digest partridges and pheasants, 
and must eat only boiled meats. 

FARINATO (Paolo, Italian painter), about 15 25-1606. 
" Now I am going." These words he cried out as he lay 
upon his death bed. His wife who was sick in the same 
room, hearing him, answered, " I will bear you company, 
my dear husband ; " and she did so, for as he drew his 
last breath she also expired. 

57 



!La$t Wforte of 

Flavel (John, distinguished nonconformist clergyman 
and author), 1627-169 1. "/ know that it will be well 
with me." 

A man of beautiful Christian character and great learn- 
ing who was ejected from his charge at Dartmouth in 1662 
for nonconformity. The Episcopalians were not satisfied to 
persecute this servant of God during his life, but ordered 
his monument removed from the Church of St. Saviour. 

FONTENELLE DE (Bernard le Bovier, author of " Con- 
versations on a Plurality of Worlds," " Dialogues of the 
Dead " and " History of the Academy of Science "), 
165 7- 1757. " / suffer nothing, but feel a sort of difficulty 
of living longer." 

Voltaire calls him, " The most universal genius of the 
age of Louis XIV." 

FORDYCE (George, distinguished Scottish physician. 
Author of " Elements of Agriculture and Vegetation "), 
1 736- 1 802. " Stop, go out of the room ; I am about to 
die" said to his daughter who was reading to him. 

FORSTER (Johann Reinhold, a Polish Prussian naturalist, 
geographer and philologist), 1 729-1798. " This is a 
beautiful world. ' ' 

Fox (George, founder of the Society of Friends) 1624- 
1690. "All is well, all is well — the seed of God reigns 
over all, and over death itself. Though I am weak in 
body, yet the power of God is over all, and the seed reigns 
over all disorderly spirits" A little later he said, and they 
were his last words, " Never heed ; the Lord's power is 
over all weakness and death." 

58 



2Dt£tmgtti0{jeti 0Den anU OTomen* 

Fox (Charles James, English orator and statesman), 
1 749-1 806. " Trotter will tell you" said to Mrs. Fox, 
who did not understand what he meant. 

Francis (Saint, of Assisi, founder of an order of men- 
dicant friars called Franciscans or Cordeliers, from the 
cord with which they girded their coarse tunics), 1182— 
1226. " The righteous wait expectant till I receive my 
recompense." 

Members of his order were kneeling around his bed, 
awaiting his death. 

Francke (August Hermann, professor of Oriental 
languages at Halle, author of " Methodus Studii Theo- 
logian " and other works, and founder of the orphan asylum 
and college for the poor which were known as Francke's 
Institutions), 1 660-1 727. " Yes" to his wife who asked 
him if his Saviour was still with him. 

So long as he was able to speak he would repeat from 
time to time in both Hebrew and German, " God will 
continue to support me. My soul has cast itself upon 
him ; Lord, I wait for thy salvation ! " 

FRANKLIN (Benjamin, moralist, statesman, and philoso- 
pher), 1706-1790."^ dying man can do nothing easy." 
He endured in later years a complication of diseases, 
which brought the extremity of physical suffering, but 
courage was strong, and he worked on almost to the last. 
Worn with pain, he welcomed the end. His last look 
was on the picture of Christ which had hung for many 
years near his bed, and of which he often said, " That is 
the picture of one who came into the world to teach men 
to love one another." The resolute repression of all signs 

59 



ilasft Worttf of 

of suffering, every indication of the long conflict, passed 
at once. He lay smiling in a quiet slumber, and the smile 
lingered when the coffin lid shut him in. His grave is in 
the heart of the city he loved, and even the careless pass- 
erby pauses a moment to read the simple legend. 

An epitaph, written by him in 1729, holds his chief 
characteristics, his humor, his quiet assurance of better 
things to come, whether for this world or the next : 

THE BODY 

OF 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 

PRINTER, 

(LIKE THE COVER OF AN OLD BOOK, 

ITS CONTENTS TORN OUT, 

AND STRIPT OF ITS LETTERING AND GILDING), 

LIES HERE, FOOD FOR WORMS. 

YET THE WORK ITSELF SHALL NOT BE LOST, 

FOR IT WILL, AS HE BELIEVES, APPEAR ONCE MORE, 

IN A NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EDITION, 

CORRECTED AND AMENDED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 1 

1 It has been suggested that Franklin was helped to his famous epitaph 
upon himself by Benjamin Woodbridge's funeral elegy upon John Cotton, 
preserved in Mather's Magnalia: 

" A living, breathing Bible ; tables where 

Best covenants at large engraven were; 

Gospel and law in his heart had each its column ; 

His head an index to the sacred volume ; 

His very name a title-page; and next 

His life a commentary on the text. 

O, what a monument of glorious worth, 

When in a new edition he comes forth, 

Without erratas, may we think he'll be 

In leaves and covers of eternity." 

60 






aptetiugutsfyeD $)ro an* Women* 

Frederick William I. (Friedrich Wilhelm I., King 
of Prussia, son of Frederick I.), 1688-1740. " Herr Jesu, 
to thee I live ; Herr Jesu, to thee I die ; in life and in 
death thou art my gain." 

"Feel my pulse, Pitsch," said he, noticing the Surgeon 
of his Giants : " tell me how long this will last." " Alas ! 
not long," answered Pitsch. " Say not, alas ; but how do 
you know ? " " The pulse is gone ! " " Impossible," said 
he, lifting his arm : " how could I move my fingers 
so, if the pulse were gone?" Pitsch looked mourn- 
fully steadfast. " Herr Jesu, to thee I live ; Herr Jesu, 
to thee I die ; in life and in death thou art my gain (Du 
bist mein Gewimi)" These were the last words Fried- 
rich Wilhelm spoke in this world. He again fell into a 
faint. Eller gave a signal to the Crown Prince to take 
the Queen away. Scarcely were they out of the room, 
when the faint deepened into death ; and Friedrich Wil- 
helm, at rest from all his labors, slept with the primeval 
sons of Thor. 1 — Carlyle. 

Frederick II. (of Prussia, called Frederick the Great), 
1 744-1 786. " Throw a quilt over it" He referred to 
one of his dogs that sat on a stool near him, and was 
shivering from cold. These were his last conscious words, 

1 Mr. Carlyle may well call it a "characteristic trait" in his favorite 
Friedrich Wilhelm, as that " wild son of Nature " lay a-dying, that on a cer- 
tain German hymn which he " much loved" being sung to him, or along 
with him, — when they came to the words, " Naked I came into the world, 
and naked shall I go out," — " No," said he, with vivacity, " not quite naked ; 
I shall have my uniform on." After which the singing went on again 
with vivacity, akin to that with which the mother of Henri Quatre — not left 
the world, but brought her son into it; for historians, without romancing, 
tell us she sung a gay Bearnais song as her brave boy was coming into 
the world at Pau. 

6l 



M&t OTotfte of 

but later, in delirium, he said, " La montagne est passee, 
nous irons tnieux." 

The king had always about him several small English 
greyhounds ; but of these only one was in favor at a 
time, the others being taken merely as companions and 
playmates to the fondling. As these greyhounds died 
they were buried on the Terrace of Sans Souci, with the 
name of each on a gravestone ; and Frederick, in his Will, 
expressed his desire that his own remains might be in- 
terred by their side — a parting token of his attachment 
to them, and of his contempt for mankind ! On this point, 
however, his wishes have not been complied with. 1 

Lord Mahoti's Historical Essays. 

Frederick V. (of Denmark), 1723-1766. "// is a 
great consolation to me, in my last hour, that I have never 
wilfully offended anyone, and that there is not a drop of 
blood on my hands." 

Fuller (Andrew, English Baptist clergyman, first 
secretary of the English Baptist Missionary Society, and 
an author of great repute in his day. He has been called 
the " Franklin of Theology "), 1754-1815. " / have no 
religious joys ; but I have a hope, in the strength of which 
I think I could plunge into eternity," said to a young min- 
ister who stood by his bedside. 

1 Mr. Berkley, of Knightsbridge, who died in 1805, left a pension of £2$ 
per annum to his four dogs. This man, when he felt his end approaching, 
called for his four dogs. These were placed by his side; and he reached 
them his trembling hand, caressed them, and breathed his last between their 
paws. The four dogs were sculptured, according to his last wish, upon the 
corners of his tomb. 

62 



2Dfettngutef)eD spm &*t$ Mtometu 

FUSELI or FUESSLI (John Henry, historical painter), 
1 741-1825. " Is Lawrence come — is Lawrence come f " 

He looked anxiously round the room — said several 
times, " Is Lawrence come — is Lawrence come ? " and 
then appeared to listen for the sound of the chariot wheels 
which brought his friend once a day from London to his 
bedside. He raised himself up a little, then sank down 
and died, on the 16th of April, 1825, and in the 84th year 
of his age. — Life of Fuse ii. 

GAINSBOROUGH (Thomas, eminent portrait and land- 
scape painter), 1727-1788. " We are all going to heaven, 
and Vandyke is of the company." 

Galba (Servius Sulpicius, Roman emperor), 3 B. c — 69 
A. D. " Strike, if it be for the Roman's good." — Plutarch. 

" Ferirent si ita e republica videretur," are the words 
of Tacitus, who says, however, that there were many dif- 
ferent stories of what he said ; those who killed him could 
not be expected to care what it was ; " non interfuit occi- 
dentium quid diceret." — Clough. 

Gardiner (James, a Scottish officer distinguished for 
piety and courage), 1688-1745. " You are fighting for 
an earthly crown ; I am going to receive a heavenly one." 
These words he is reported to have spoken to an officer 
upon the opposite side after the battle against the Pre- 
tender at Prestonpaus, in which he was mortally wounded, 
but there is some doubt in the minds of his biographers 
as to the trustworthiness of the report. 

See Rev. Dr. Philip Doddridge's " Life of Col. James 

63 



3la$t OTotte of 

Gardiner," and the account of Col. Gardiner's death in 
Scott's "Waverley." 

Gardiner (Stephen, Bishop of Winchester), 1483- 
1555. " Erravi cum Petro, sed non flevi cum Petro." 

Gardner (Thomas, Colonel in the American army, 
killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill), 1 724-1 775. His 
precise words are not preserved, but the last desire that 
he expressed was that he might have sufficient strength 
to continue the fight against the British one half hour 
longer. 

Col. Gardner is represented in a dramatic production 
called " The Battle of Bunker Hill " which was printed 
at Philadelphia in 1776, as saying immediately after re- 
ceiving the wound of which he died : 

" A musket ball, death-winged, hath pierced my groin, 
And widely oped the swift current of my veins. 
Bear me then, soldiers, to that hollow space 
A little hence, just on the hill's decline. 
A surgeon there may stop the gushing wound, 
And gain a short respite to life, that yet 
I may return and fight one half hour more. 
Then shall I die in peace, and to my God 
Surrender up the spirit which he gave." 

Garfield (James A., twentieth President of the 
United States : assassinated by Charles Julius Guiteau), 
1 8 3 1 - 1 8 8 1 . " The people my trust." 

GASSENDI or GASSEND (Pierre, philosopher, mathema- 
tician, astronomer and metaphysician), 1592-1655. " You 
see what is man's life." 

64 



aDtsttngtustyea $$m ana Wlomm* 

GAUTAMA ("The Buddha," Siddhartha or Sakya Muni, 
founder of Buddhism), B. C. 624-543. " Beloved Bickus, 
the principle of existence, and mutability carries with it 
the principle of destruction. Never forget this ; let your 
minds be filled with this truth ; to make it known to you I 
have assembled you." 

Bigandfs Life of Gautama, Vol. ii., p. 68. 

His life was without reproach. His constant heroism 
equalled his conviction ; and if his theory was false, his 
personal example was irreproachable. He was the model 
of all the virtues he preached. His abnegation, his char- 
ity, his unalterable gentleness did not forsake him for an 
instant. He prepared his doctrine by six years of silence 
and meditation, and he propagated it for half a century 
by the sole power of his word. And when he died in the 
arms of his disciples, it was with the serenity of a sage 
who had practised good all his life, and who was assured 
he had found the truth. — Barthelemy St. Hilaire. 

Sir Edwin Arnold (in the Preface to his " The Light 
of Asia") calls Gautama "the highest, gentlest, holiest 
and most beneficent personality, with one exception, in 
the History of Thought," who " united the truest princely 
qualities with the intellect of a sage and the passionate 
devotion of a martyr. . . . Forests of flowers are 
daily laid upon his stainless shrines, and countless mil- 
lions of lips daily repeat the formula, * I take refuge in 
Buddha ! ' " 

GELLERT (Christian Fiirchtegott, a German poet of 
rare grace and beauty), 171 5-1769. "Now, God be 
praised, only one hour / " on being told that he could live 
only an hour. 

5 65 



tlast »Otf)£ of 

George IV. (of England, eldest son of George III. and 
Queen Charlotte), 1 762-1 830. " Whatty, what is this? 
It is death, my boy. They have deceived me" said to his 
page, Sir Wathen Waller. 

GIBBON (Edward, author of " The History of the De- 
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire"), 1 737-1 794. " Mon 
Dieu ! Mon Dieu ! " 

Some authorities give his last words thus : " Pourquoi 
est ce que vous me quittez," to his valet-de-chambre. 

The valet-de-chambre observed that Mr. Gibbon did 
not at any time, show the least sign of alarm, or appre- 
hension of death ; and it does not appear that he ever 
thought himself in danger, unless his desire to speak to 
Mr. Darrell may be considered in that light. 

Lord Sheffield s Memoirs. 

GOAR (St., " Patron Saint of the Rhine"), " My chil- 
dren, these fearful forests and these barren rocks shall be 
adorned with cities and temples, where the name of Jesus 
shall be openly adored. Ye shall abandon your precarious 
and hard chase, and assemble together under temples lofty 
as those pines, and graceful as the crown of the palm. 

" Here shall my Saviour be known in all the simplicity 
of his doctrines. Ah ! would that I might witness it ; 
but I have seen those things in a vision. But I faint ! I 
am weary ! My earthly journey is finished / Receive my 
blessing. Go ! and be kind one to another.''' 

Robert Blakey : " Christian Hermits." 

Goethe or Gothe (Johann Wolfgang von), 1749- 
183 1. " More light! more light!" He mistook the 
shadow of death for evening twilight. 

66 



He continued to express himself by signs, drawing 
letters with his fore-finger in the air, while he had strength, 
and finally, as life ebbed, drawing figures slowly on the 
shawl which covered his legs. At half-past twelve he 
composed himself in the corner of the chair. The watcher 
placed a finger on her lip to intimate that he was asleep. 
If sleep it was it was a sleep in which a great life glided 
from this world. — Lewes 's Story of Goethe's Life. 

Coudray, who was present when the poet died, left a 
manuscript on " The Last Days and the Death of Goethe," 
which has been published. Goethe was seated in the 
bed-room, in an arm-chair standing beside the bed. 
Thinking that he saw paper lying on the floor, he said : 
" Why is Schiller's correspondence permitted to lie here ? " 
Immediately, thereupon, he uttered his last audible words : 
" Do open the shutter in the bed-room, in order that 
more light may enter." [Mac/it dock den Fensterladen im 
Schlafgemach auf damit mehr Licht herein komme.) 

Goldsmith (Oliver), 1 728-1 774. "No, it is not;' to 
a physician who asked if his mind was at ease. 

GOUGH (John Bartholomew, distinguished American 
temperance advocate), 18 17-1886. " Young man, keep 
your record — " the last word was inaudible, but was 
probably " clean." 1 

1 A paragraph from one of Mr. Gough's public addresses, carved upon 
his monument in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, shows the strength of his con- 
viction and illustrates the directness and force of his style : 

" I can desire nothing better for this great country than that a barrier high 
as heaven be raised between the unpolluted lips of the children and the in- 
toxicating cup, that everywhere men and women should raise strong and 
determined hands against whatever will defile the body, pollute the mind, or 
harden the heart against God and His truth." 

67 



JLast »otti$ of 

Grant (Ulysses Simpson, eighteenth President of the 
United States, and one of the most distinguished of 
American generals), 1 822-1 885. " Water" said to an 
attendant who inquired if he wished for anything. 

GRAY (Thomas, author of " Elegy written in a country 
churchyard "), 17 1 6-1 77 1 . " Molly, I shall die ! " 

GREEN (Joseph Henry, distinguished English sur- 
geon, thinker, philosopher, and instructor), 1 791-1863. 
" Stopped!" 

Among all the brilliant young men who gathered at 
the feet of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, eager to learn from 
this " rapt one of the god-like brow," none surpassed him 
in admiration, and possibly in ability. It was not strange 
that Coleridge selected him to complete the development 
of that " Spiritual Philosophy " which was the great un- 
accomplished work of his life. Upon Coleridge's death, 
Mr. Green abandoned all his London work, threw aside 
the distinctions and emoluments of professional life, re- 
wards that would surely increase from year to year, and 
devoted his whole time to philosophy and incidental 
studies to qualify himself for carrying out the commission 
of Coleridge. The story of his death has been told by 
one of his colleagues at St. Thomas's Hospital, one whose 
fame is familiar to the profession, Mr. Simon. " Not even 
the last agony of death," said Mr. Simon, " ruffled his 
serenity of mind, or rendered him unthoughtful of others. 
No terrors, no selfish regrets, no reproachful memories 
were there. The few tender parting words which he had 
yet to speak, he spoke. And to the servants who were 

6S 



HDttftmguisljet) $0m an* OTomen* 

gathered grieving round him, he said, ' While I have 
breath, let me thank you for all your kindness and atten- 
tion to me.' Next to his doctor, who quickly entered, — 
his neighbor and old pupil, Mr. Carter, — he significantly, 
and pointing to the region of his heart, said, ' Congestion,' 
after which he in silence set his finger to his wrist, and 
visibly noted to himself the successive feeble pulses which 
were just between him and death. Presently he said 
' Stopped,' and this was the very end. It was as if even 
to die were an act of his own self-government ; for at 
once, with the warning word still scarce beyond his lips, 
suddenly the stately head drooped aside, passive and de- 
funct, forever." — Dr. Theophilus Parvin. 

GREGORY VII. (the Great, Pope Hildebrand), about 
1 020- 1 08 5. " I have loved justice and hated iniquity ; 
therefore, I die an exile" He died at Salerno, May 25, 
1085. 

His dying words are deeply affecting, but yet a stern 
and unbending profession of the faith of his whole life, 
and of the profound convictions under which even his 
enemies acknowledge him to have acted. 

Chambers' Encyclopedia. 

GREY (Lady Jane), 15 37-1 5 54. "Lord, into Thy 
hands I commend my spirit" 

Then the hangman kneeled down and asked her for- 
giveness, whom she forgave most willingly. Then he 
willed her to stand upon the straw ; which doing, she saw 
the block. Then she said, " I pray you despatch me 
quickly." Then she kneeled down, saying, "Will you 
5* 69 



MM OTotftf of 

take it off before I lay me down ? " And the hangman 
said, " No, Madam." Then she tied the handkerchief 
about her eyes, and, feeling for the block, she said, " What 
shall I do ? Where is it ? Where is it ? " One of the 
standers-by guided her thereunto ; she laid her head 
down upon the block and then stretched forth her body, 
and said " Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," 
and so finished her life in the year of our Lord 1554. 

Fox's Book of Martyrs. 
Lady Jane was only in her seventeenth year, and was 
remarkable for her skill in the classical, oriental, and 
modern languages, and for the sweetness of her disposi- 
tion. 

GROTIUS or De GROOT (Hugo, jurist, divine, histo- 
rian, and scholar), 1 583-1645. " / heard your voice ; but 
did not tinderstand what you said," to Quistorpius, a 
clergyman who repeated in German a prayer suitable for 
a dying person. Some say his last words were, " Be 
serious." 

GuiTEAU (Charles Julius, hanged June 30, 1882, in the 
United States jail, Washington, D. C, for the assassination 
of President Garfield), 1841-1882. "Glory hallelujah! 
1 am going to the Lordy I I come! Ready! Go!" 

Guiteau published, while in jail, his autobiography, 
through the medium of a metropolitan newspaper. It is 
full of repetitions and minute details, and its reading is a 
severe tax upon patience. It establishes the fact that, in 
spite of his assertions to the contrary, his motive was not 
political, but was the gratification of an inordinate vanity. 

70 



SDtetmguistjeD spen an* WLomtn. 

In one place Guiteau says: "During the week preceding 
the President's removal, I read the papers carefully. I 
thought it all over in detail. I thought just what people 
would talk, and thought what a tremendous excitement 
it would create, and I kept thinking about it all the week. 
I then prepared myself. I sent to Boston for a copy of 
my book, ' The Truth,' and I spent a week in preparing 
that, and I greatly improved it. I knew that it would 
probably have a large sale on account of the notoriety 
that the act of removing the President would give me, 
and I wished the book to go out to the public in proper 
shape." It is now generally believed that Guiteau was 
insane. 

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS (Gustavus II., King of Sweden, 
one of the greatest of soldiers and one of the best of men), 
1 594-1 63 2. " / have enough, brother ; try to save your own 
life," to the Duke of Lauenburg. 

A subaltern of the imperial army, observing the respect 
with which the unknown officer was treated by his few 
followers, naturally concluded that he was a person of im- 
portance, and called out to a musketeer: " Shoot that 
man, for I am sure he is an officer of high rank." The 
soldier immediately fired, and the King's left arm fell 
powerless by his side. At this moment a wild cry was 
raised, "The king bleeds! the king is wounded!" "It 
is nothing !" shouted Gustavus; "follow me." But the 
pain soon brought on faintness, and he desired the Duke 
of Lauenburg in French to lead him out of the throng. 
Whilst the duke was endeavoring to withdraw him with- 
out being noticed by the troops, a second shot struck 

71 



Hast OTor&s of 

Gustavus and deprived him of his little remaining strength. 
" I have enough, brother," he said in a feeble voice to the 
duke ; " try to save your own life." At the same moment 
he fell from his horse, and in a short time breathed his 
last. — Mark ham 's Germany. 

HALE (Nathan, captain in Continental Army, executed 
by the British as a spy), 175 5-1 776. " I only regret that 
I have but one life to give to my country ! " 

He was confined in the green-house of the garden dur- 
ing the night of September 21, and the next morning, 
without even the form of a regular trial, was delivered to 
Cunningham, the brutal provost marshal, to be executed 
as a spy. He was treated with great inhumanity by that 
monster. The services of a clergyman and the use of a 
Bible were denied him, and even the letters which he had 
been permitted by Howe to write to his mother and sis- 
ters during the night were destroyed. He was hanged 
upon an apple-tree in Rutger's orchard, near the present 
intersection of East Broadway and Market street. 
Lossing's Field- Book of the Revolution, Vol. 2,/. 609. 

HALLER (Dr. Albert, eminent Swiss anatomist and 
physiologist. He is chiefly known by his " Disputationes 
Anatomicas Selectse." George II. obtained for him a 
brevet as a noble of the English Empire, and he is some- 
times spoken of as Baron Haller), 1 708-1 777. Feeling 
his own pulse, he exclaimed, " The artery ceases to beat" 
and instantly expired. 

HALYBURTON (Thomas, professor of divinity in the 
new college at St. Andrews), 1674-17 12. " Pray ', pray /" 

72 



H>isfttngut0^eO £$m ana Women* 

He cried out several times, " Fall grace, free grace ; not 
unto me." He spoke little the last six hours before his 
death, only some broken sentences, which with difficulty 
were understood. Now and then he would lift up his 
hands and clap them as a sign that he was encouraging 
himself in the Lord. At last he cried, " Pray, pray ! " 
which was done by five or six ministers, and so he fell 
asleep in our Lord. 

HAMPDEN (John, English patriot and statesman), 1594- 
1643. " Lord, save my country ! O Lord, be merciful 
to ." 

HARRISON (William Henry, ninth President of the 
United States), 1 773-1 841. " / wish you to understand 
the true principles of government. I wish them carried 
out. I ask nothing more." 

HAUSER (Kaspar, the "Nuremberg Foundling"), 
— 1833. " Tired — very tired — a long journey — to take" 
after these words he turned his face to the wall and never 
spoke again. 

He was growing more feeble every moment, and re- 
peated several times, " Tired — very tired — all my limbs 
— too heavy — for me." 

The good Pastor Fuhrmann comforted and encouraged 
him with the words of Scripture, ending with, " Father, 
not my will," and Kaspar responded, " but thine be 
done." To test his consciousness, the Pastor asked, 
"Who prayed thus?" and again he was ready with his 
answer, " Our Saviour."—" And when ? " — " Before he 

73 



iUtft »ort>$ of 

died." A few minutes after this followed his last words, 
"Tired — very tired — a long journey — to take." — The 
Duchess of Cleveland : " The True Story of Kaspar 
Hauser." 

The strange and mysterious history and sad death of 
Kaspar Hauser called forth the deepest interest and sym- 
pathy throughout Europe. He was discovered in the 
streets of Nuremberg in 1828, a lad of about sixteen, 
knowing almost nothing of the world, and able to speak 
but two or three words of any language, and of the 
meaning of these he had but a dim understanding. He 
had with him a letter purporting to be written by a Ba- 
varian peasant, declaring that Hauser had been left at 
his door, and had been cared for by him. It was gradu- 
ally ascertained that the youth had been confined from 
infancy in a dark vault, so small that one could not 
stand, and could move only slightly in its enclosure. He 
had never tasted any food but bread and water, which 
had been brought to him by an unknown man while he 
was sleeping. Hauser was cared for by a number of 
generous and sympathetic patrons, among whom was 
Lord Stanhope ; and his mental and physical condition 
was studied by the scientific men of the time. In 1833 
he was invited to a meeting with a stranger who promised 
to reveal to him the secret of his strange condition, and 
to tell him who he was, but when Hauser was reading a 
document given him, this stranger suddenly wounded 
him with a dagger, causing his death within three days. 
See interesting history of the "Nuremberg Foundling" 
in Merker's " Kaspar Hauser," and Feuerbach's " Account 
of an Individual Kept in a Dungeon." 

74 



SDtetmgutefjeD spot attu Women* 

HAVERGAL Frances Ridley), 1 836-1 879. "He." It 
is thought she wished to say, " He died for me." 

Havelock (Sir Henry), 1795—1857. "Come, my son, 
and see how a Christian can die." 

Haydn (Joseph), 1732-1809. " God preserve the em- 
peror" He referred to the Emperor Francis. 

In 1809 Vienna was bombarded by the French. A 
round-shot fell into his garden. He seemed to be in no 
alarm, but on May 25 he requested to be led to his 
piano, and three times over he played the " Hymn to the 
Emperor," with an emotion that fairly overcame both 
himself and those who heard him. He was to play no 
more ; and, being helped back to his couch, he lay down 
in extreme exhaustion to wait for the end. Six days 
afterward, May 31, 1809, died Francis Joseph Haydn, 
aged seventy-seven. — Haweis's " Music and Morals." 

HAZLITT (William, essayist and critic), 1 778-1 830. 
" / have led a happy life." 

Heine (Heinrich, German poet and author), 1800- 
1856. " Set your mind at rest, Dieu me pardonnera, c'est 
son metrer." 

Some hours before he died a friend came into his room 
to see him once more. Soon after his entry he asked 
Heine if he was on good terms with God. " Set your 
mind at rest," said Heine, "Dieu me pardonnera, c'est 
son metrer." 

Stigand : Life, Work and Opinions of Heine. 

75 



ilaat Worts? of 

Catherine Bourlois, Heine's nurse, says in a letter to 
Mrs. Charlotte Embden, that Heine's last words often re- 
peated were, "I am done for." She endeavored to com- 
fort him with such kind and religious words as came to 
her mind, but all that she said had little effect. 

HELOISE or ELOISE (a beautiful and accomplished 
French woman; the niece of Fulbert, canon of Notre- 
Dame. She became successively the pupil, mistress and 
wife of Abelard. After her marriage she became prioress 
of Argenteuil, and acquired a high reputation for piety. 
Her letters, written in elegant Latin, and printed with 
those of Abelard, are the expressions of a noble and fer- 
vent spirit), about I ioo-i 164. " In death at last let me 
rest with Abelard." 

Heloise, when she felt the approach of death, directed 
the sisterhood to place her body by the side of that of 
Abelard, in the same coffin. It was commonly reported 
and believed, such was the credulity of the age, that at 
the moment when the coffin of Abelard was opened to 
lay her within it, the arm of the skeleton stretched itself 
out, opened, and appeared to be reanimated to receive 
the beloved one. They reposed for 500 years in one of 
the aisles of the Paraclete, and after various changes, came 
to rest at last in the beautiful cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise 
at Paris. 

HEMANS (Felicia Dorothea), 1794-183 5. " I feel as 
if I were sitting with Mary at the feet of my Redeemer, 
hearing the music of his voice y and learning of Him to be 
meek and lowly" 

76 



HOtettuguisfyeti $$m ana OTometu 

HENDRICKS (Thomas A., Vice-President of the United 
States), 1819-1885. "At rest at last. Now I am free 
from pain." 

Henry IV. (of France), 1553-1610. " I am wounded" 
said when struck by the assassin Ravaillac. 

While the coach stopped, the attendants, with the ex- 
ception of two, went on before ; one of these two advanced 
to clear the way, the other stopped to fasten his garter. 
At that instant a wild-faced, red-haired man in a cloak, 
who had followed the coach from the Louvre, approached 
the side where the king sat, as if endeavoring to push 
his way, like other passengers, between the coach and 
the shops. Suddenly putting one foot on a spoke of the 
wheel, he drew a knife, and struck the king, who was 
reading a letter, between the second and third rib, a 
little above the heart. " I am wounded," cried the king, 
as the assassin, perceiving that the stroke had not been 
effectual, repeated it. The second blow went directly to 
the heart ; the blood gushed from the wound and from 
his mouth, and death was almost instantaneous. A third 
blow which the assassin aimed at his victim was received 
by the Duke of Eperon in the sleeve. 

The assassin's name was Francis Ravaillac, a native of 
Angoumois, who had been a solicitor in the courts of 
law. Whether the crime was prompted solely by his 
own imagination, or whether he was the instrument of 
any deep-laid conspiracy, was never clearly ascertained, 
though the latter was the general supposition. 

Chambers' Miscellany. 

77 



urn mom of 

Henry VIII. (second son of Henry VII. and Eliza- 
beth of York. The death of his elder brother Arthur, in 
1502, made him heir apparent to the throne. He mar- 
ried his brother's widow, Catharine of Aragon, and, upon 
his father's death in 1509, was crowned king of England. 
The great event in his reign was his divorcement of 
Catharine and his marriage with Anne Boleyn, which led 
to the repudiation of Romanism in England, and the or- 
ganization of the English or Episcopal Church), 1491— 
1 547. " Monks / Monks / Monks ! " He was in all prob- 
ability thinking of the time when he abolished the mon- 
asteries and turned the monks out of doors. 

HENRY (Patrick, American statesman and orator), 1736- 
1799. "I trust in the mercy of God, it is not now too 
later 

HENRY (Philip, English dissenting clergyman. He 
was the father of Matthew Henry, the eminent English 
divine and commentator), 1631-1696. " death, where 
is thy — " Here his speech failed, and in a few moments 
he breathed his last. 

HENRY (Matthew, commentator on the Bible), 1662- 
17 14. "A life spent in the service of God, and com- 
munion with Him, is the most comfortable and pleasant 
life that any one can live in this present world." 

He was twenty-five years pastor of a church at Chester, 
and during that time went through the Bible three times 
in the course of expository lectures. " At the commence- 
ment of his ministry he began with the first chapter of 

78 



2E>fattngutstyeD spen anti OTomem 

Genesis in the forenoon, and the first chapter of Matthew 
in the afternoon. Thus gradually and steadily grew his 
' Exposition ' of the Bible. A large portion of it consists 
of his public lectures, while many of the quaint sayings 
and pithy remarks with which it abounds, and which 
give so great a charm of raciness to its pages, were the 
familiar extempore observations of his father at family 
worship, and noted down by Matthew in his boyhood." 

HERBERT (George, author of some of the finest sacred 
lyrics in the English language), 1 593-1632. " I am now 
ready to die. Lord, forsake me not, now my strength 
faileth me ; but grant me mercy for the merits of my Jesus. 
And now Lord — Lord, now receive my soul." 

With these words he breathed forth his divine soul, 
without any apparent disturbance, Mr. Woodnot and Mr. 
Bostock attending his last breath, and closing his eyes. 

Thus he lived, and thus he died like a saint, unspotted 
of the world, full of alms-deeds, full of humility, and all 
the examples of a virtuous life ; which I cannot conclude 
better, than with this borrowed observation : 

All must to their cold graves ; 
But the religious actions of the just 
Smell sweet in death, and blossom in the dust. 

Izaak Walton. 

HERDER (Johann Gottfried von, court-preacher at 
Weimar, and one of the most brilliant and delightful of 
German authors), 1744-1803. He died writing an "Ode 
to the Deity " ; his pen had just reached the last line. 
His last spoken words were : " Refresh me with a great 
thought." 

79 



ilatft OToritf of 

HERVEY (James, English divine, author of the once 
popular book, " Meditations Among the Tombs "), 1713— 
1758. " Precious salvation ! ' ' 

Leaning his head against the side of the easy-chair, 
without a sigh, or groan, or struggle, he shut his eyes and 
died. 

HlLL (Rev. Rowland, a popular, pious, but eccentric 
preacher), 1 745-1 833. " Christ also hath once suffered 
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us 
unto God." 

HOBBES (Thomas, philosopher and translator), 1 588— 
1 679. " Now am I about to take my last voyage — a great 
leap in the dark." 

Some say Hobbes's last words were : " I shall be glad 
to find a hole to creep out of the world at." 

HOFER (Andreas, Tyrolese patriot), 1767-18 10. "/ 
stand in the presence of my Creator, and standing I will 
render back my spirit to God who gave it. Fire / " to 
the officer who directed him to place himself on his 
knees. 

The first six shots wounded him but slightly. Dropping 
on his knees he received the remaining six, and was still 
struggling convulsively when a corporal, discharging a 
pistol close to his head, put an end to his sufferings. 

Markham. 

HOGG (James, "the Ettrick Shepherd"), 1772-1835. 
"It is likely you may never need to do it again" to his 
wife, whom he had asked to watch by his bedside during 
the night. 

80 



2Dt£tmguisfye& ^en anD OTomen* 

HOOD (Thomas), 1 798-1 845. " Dying, Dying." Like 
poor Yorick, he was " a fellow of infinite jest ; of most 
excellent fancy." In his genius were united the intensely 
pathetic and the exquisitely humorous. His life was one 
of toil and suffering, and yet he was always joking and 
making those around him laugh. His wit did not forsake 
him on his death-bed ; it is recorded that when a mustard 
plaster was applied to his attenuated feet, he was heard 
feebly to remark that there was " very little meat for the 
mustard." 

He died on the 3d of May, 1845, an< ^ on a J u ty day 
nine years later Monckton Milnes unveiled the monu- 
ment which stands above his grave in Kensal Green Cem- 
etery. Beneath the bust there runs the legend, " He 
sang the Song of the Shirt," and on either side of the 
pedestal are bas-relief medallions of " Eugene Aram's 
Dream " and " The Bridge of Sighs " — all pertinent re- 
minders of the fact that there was a serious as well as a 
humorous side to the genius of Hood. He himself, there 
can be no doubt, would have elected to live by his serious 
verse. 

HOOKER (Richard, eminent English clergyman), 1 553— 

1600. " Good Doctor, God has heard my daily petitions, 

for I am at peace with all men, and he is at peace with 

me ; and from which blessed assurance I feel that inward 

joy which this world can neither give nor take away." 

HOOPER (John, Bishop of Gloucester and later Bishop 
of Worcester in commendam), about 1495— 1 555. "If 
you love my soul, away with it ! " 
6 81 



" 



tlaat OTortis? of 

Tn January, 1555, he was condemned on three charges : 
for maintaining the lawfulness of clerical marriage, for 
defending divorce and for denying transubstantiation. 
He called the mass "the iniquity of the devil." He was 
sentenced to die at the stake in Gloucester, whither he 
was conveyed. He met his death firmly and cheerfully. 
To a friend bewailing his lot, the martyr replied in the 
oft-quoted words, " Death is bitter, and life is sweet, but 
alas ! consider that death to come is more bitter, and life 
to come is more sweet." In another conversation he 
said, " I am well, thank God ; and death to me for 
Christ's sake is welcome." His martyrdom was witnessed 
by a large throng of people. The martyr was forbidden 
to address the crowd. A real or pretended pardon being 
promised if he would recant, he spurned it away, saying, 
" If you love my soul, away with it." His agony was 
greatly prolonged and increased by the slow progress oi 
the fire on account of the green faggots, which had to be 
rekindled three times before they did their work. 

Rev. D. S. Schaff in the Religious Encyclopedia. 

Some authorities say Bishop Hooper's last words were, 
" Good people, give me more fire." Other authorities 
have it, " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 

Hopkins (Rev. Samuel, D. D., distinguished theolog- 
ian and controversialist : founder of the so-called " Hop- 
kinsian Theology"), 1721-1803. " My anchor is well 
cast, and my ship, though weather-beaten, will outride the 
storm." 

HOTMAN (William, Revolutionary soldier and patriot, 
the record of whose noble and courageous spirit is pre- 

82 



served upon a grave-stone at Groton, Connecticut). " We 

will endeavor to crawl to this line ; we will completely wet 
the powder with our blood : thus will we, with the life that 
remains in us y save the fort and the magazine, and per- 
haps a few of our comrades who are only wounded ! " 

The entire inscription upon the stone reads thus : 
" On the 20th of October, 1781, four thousand English 
fell upon this town with fire and sword — seven hundred 
Americans defended the fort for a whole day, but in the 
evening about four o'clock, it was taken. The comman- 
der declined delivering up his sword to an Englishman, 
who immediately stabbed him ! All his comrades were 
put to the sword. A line of powder was laid from the 
magazine of the fort to be lighted to blow the fort up 
into the air. William Hotman, who lay not far distant, 
wounded by three stabs of a bayonet in his body, beheld 
it, and said to one of his wounded friends, who was still 
alive, 'We will endeavor to crawl to this line; we will 
completely wet the powder with our blood: thus will we, 
w r ith the life that remains in us, save the fort and the mag- 
azine, and perhaps a few of our comrades who are only 
wounded ! ' He alone had strength to accomplish this 
noble design. In his thirtieth year he died on the powder 
which he overflowed with his blood. His friend, and 
seven of his wounded companions, by that means had 
their lives preserved. Here rests William Hotman." 

HOUSTON (Samuel, known as " Sam," commander-in- 
chief of the Texan army and " Hero of San Jacinto," 
President of Texas, and, after annexation, United States 
Senator), 1793-1 862. "Texas! Texas!" — after a pause, 

83 



M$t OTorte of 

he faintly breathed the name of his wife, " Margaret" and 
passed away. 

Howard (William, Viscount Stafford. Having been 
accused by Titus Oates of complicity in the Popish Plot, 
he was convicted of treason and executed December 29th, 
1680. It is believed that he was innocent), 161 2-1680. 
" I do forgive you." 

Having embraced and taken leave of his friends, he 
knelt down and placed his head on the block : the execu- 
tioner raised the axe high in the air, but then checking 
himself suddenly lowered it. Stafford raised his head 
and asked the reason for the delay. The executioner said 
he waited the signal. " I shall make no sign," he answered ; 
"take your own time." The executioner asked his for- 
giveness. " I do forgive you," replied Stafford, and plac- 
ing his head again in position, at one blow it was severed 
from his body. — Bell's " Chapel and Tower." 

Howard (John, distinguished philanthropist), 1726- 
1790. "Suffer no pomp at my funeral, nor monumental 
inscription where I am laid. Lay me quietly in the earth 
and put a sun-dial over my grave, and let me be forgotten}" 

A rude obelisk is erected over his grave, bearing the 
brief Latin inscription, " Vixet propter alios " — he lived 
for the good of others. 

He may have lived for others but it is recorded of him 
that he was a tyrant in his own house ; that his cruel 

1 Tacitus said, " At my funeral let no tokens of sorrow be seen, no pomp- 
ous mockery of woe. Crown me with chaplets, strew flowers on my grave, 
and let my friends erect no vain memorial to tell where my remains are 
lodged." 

84 



treatment caused the death of his wife ; and that he was 
in the habit of punishing his only son with the greatest 
severity. Dr. Forbes Winslow thinks Howard was insane, 
and there is much to justify that opinion. 

HULL (Isaac, commodore), 1 775-1 843. "/ strike my 



HUMBOLDT (Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von, 
author of the " Cosmos"), 1769-1859. " How grand the 
sunlight ! It seems to beckon earth to heaven" 

HUNTER (William, a young man of nineteen, burned 
at the stake for his faith, in the time of Mary I., of Eng- 
land), 1 5 36-1 5 5 5. " Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit /" 

" William said to his mother : — ' For my little pain 
which I shall suffer, which is but a short braid, Christ 
hath promised me, mother (said he), a crown of joy ; may 
you not be glad of that, mother ? ' With that his mother 
kneeled down on her knees, saying, i I pray God strengthen 
thee, my son, to the end ; yea, I think thee as well- 
bestowed as any child that ever I bare.' 

"Then William Hunter plucked up his gown and 
stepped over the parlor groundsel and went forward 
cheerfully ; the sheriff's servants taking him by one arm 
and his brother by another. And thus going in the way, 
he met with his father according to his dream, and he 
spake to his son saying, ' God be with thee, son William ; ' 
and William said, ' God be with you, good father, and be 
of good comfort ; for I hope we shall meet again when 
we shall be merry.' His father said, ' I hope so, William,' 
6* 85 



§Lasft OTorUs; of 

and so departed. So William went to the place where 
the stake stood, even according to his dream, where all 
things were very unready. Then William took a wet 
broom faggot, and kneeled down thereon, and read the 
fifty-first Psalm till he came to these words, ' The sacrifice 
of God is a contrite spirit ; a contrite and a broken heart, 
O God, thou wilt not despise ! ' 

" Then said the sheriff, ' There is a letter from the 
Queen. If thou wilt recant thou shalt live ; if not, thou 
shalt be burned.' ' No,' quoth William, ' I will not recant, 
God willing.' Then William rose and went to the stake, 
and stood upright to it. Then came one Richard Ponde, 
a bailiff, and made fast the chain about William. 

" Then said master Brown, ' There is not wood enough 
to burn a leg of him.' Then said William, ' Good peo- 
ple ! pray for me, and make speed and despatch quickly ; 
and pray for me while you see me alive, good people ! 
and I will pray for you likewise.' ' Now ? ' quoth master 
Brown, ' pray for thee ! I will pray no more for thee 
than I will pray for a dog." 

" Then was there a gentleman which said, ' I pray God 
have mercy upon his soul ! ' The people said, ' Amen, 
amen.' 

" Immediately fire was made. Then William cast his 
psalter right into his brother's hand, who said, ' William ! 
think of the holy passion of Christ, and be not afraid of 
death.' And William answered, ' I am not afraid.' Then 
lift he up his hands to heaven and said, ' Lord, Lord, Lord, 
receive my spirit,' and, casting down his head again into 
the smothering smoke, he yielded up his life for the truth, 
sealing it with his blood to the praise of God." — Fox's 
Book of Martyrs. 

S6 



2Di£tmgui0l)eD spm anti Women* 

Hunter (Dr. William, distinguished anatomist and 
physiologist. He is chiefly remembered by his " Anatomy 
of the Human Gravid Uterus," consisting of thirty-four 
plates engraved by the most eminent artists of the day, 
with explanations in English and Latin), 17 17-1783. 
" If I had strength to hold a pen I would write down how 
easy and pleasant a thing it is to die." 

Huntington (Selina, Countess of, an English lady, 
eminent for her piety and munificence), 1 707-1 791. " My 
work is done ; I have nothing to do but to go to my Father." 

HUSS (John, burnt at the stake July 6, 141 5), 1370- 
141 5. When the chain was placed around the neck of 
John Huss he exclaimed with a smile, "Welcome this 
chain, for Christ's sake ! " The faggots having been piled 
up to his neck, the Duke of Bavaria, in a brutal manner, 
called on him to recant. "No," cried the martyr, " I take 
God to witness I preached none but his own pure doctrines, 
and what I taught I am ready to seal with my blood" 

ILITCHEWSKI (Alexander Demainowitch, the Russian 
poet). "/ have found at last the object of my love" a 
line written by the poet just before his death, and found 
on a table near his bed. The poet was haunted all his 
life by an ideal of womanly beauty which he sought in 
vain among the living, and the above line would seem to 
indicate that he had at last found the object of his dreams. 
It is supposed that he died from excess of joy at the dis- 
covery. 

Ingersoll (Robert Green, an American lawyer and 
orator, distinguished as an opponent of Christianity), 

87 



ilast »ort# of 

1833— 1899. " ^j better," in response to his wife's ques- 
tion, " How do you feel now ? " 

After the war he became an ardent Republican, and 
gained fame as a lawyer, serving as attorney-general of 
Illinois for several years. He was a delegate to the Na- 
tional Republican convention of 1876, when he became 
famous as an orator by proposing the name of James G. 
Blaine for President in his celebrated " Plumed Knight " 
speech. He was offered the post of minister to Ger- 
many, but refused it. About the year 1877 he removed 
to New York, and was soon in great demand as a lec- 
turer and orator. Among his most celebrated cases was 
his defense of the "Star route conspirators" in 1883. 

Some of the most beautiful of Col. Ingersoll's orations 
were those that he delivered over the bodies of his 
friends. Among his best known books are " The Gods," 
1878, "Ghosts," 1879, "Some Mistakes of Moses," 1879, 
"Prose, Poems, and Selections," 1879, and several vol- 
umes of lectures. 

IRVING (Rev. Edward, an able and eccentric preacher, 
and the founder of the sect of Irvingites), 1 792-1 834. 
" If I die ', I die unto the Lord. Amen." Some say his 
last words were : " In life and in death, I am the Lord's." 

JACKSON (Thomas Jonathan, " Stonewall Jackson," 
distinguished Confederate general), 1824-1863. "Let us 
go over the river, and sit under the refreshing shadow of 
the trees." 

He was accidentally shot and mortally wounded by his 
own soldiers, in the darkness of night. His last words 
were spoken in delirium. 

88 



2r>t£tmgutef)eD $pen ana Women* 

James II. (of England), 1633-1701. "Grateful — in 
peace / " Louis XIV. visited James II. when the latter 
was upon his death-bed, and moved, no doubt, by pity, 
said to him in the presence of courtiers who ill concealed 
their surprise : " I come to tell Your Majesty, that when- 
ever it shall please God to take you from us, I will be to 
your son what I have been to you, and will acknowledge 
him as King of England, Scotland and Ireland." James 
was so near death that he was hardly sensible of what 
was said to him, but it was thought he murmured with 
much that was irrelevant the words, " Grateful — in 
peace ! " 

The final disposition of the remains of James II. is in- 
volved in some uncertainty. Stanley in Historical Mem- 
orials of Westminster Abbey says: "The body had been 
placed in the Chapel of the English Benedictines at Paris, 
and deposited there in the vain hope that, at some future 
time, they would be laid with kingly pomp at Westmin- 
ster among the graves of the Plantagenets and Tudors." 
Clarke, in his Life of James II., says that at his burial the 
rites of the Church of England were not used, but this is 
contradicted by the account preserved in Herald's Col- 
lege. The King's brains, it is said, were deposited in an 
urn of bronze-gilt standing upon the monument raised to 
him in the Chapel of the Scotch College in the Rue des 
Fosses Saint Victor. This, according to a correspondent 
of the Notes and Queries, Vol. ii, p. 281, was "smashed, 
and the contents scattered about during the French Rev- 
olution." Pettigrew, in his Chronicles of the Tombs, 
says : " It is conjectured that portions of the King's body 
were collected together, and entombed at St. Germain en 

89 



ilast WorD0 of 

Laye, soon after the termination of the war in 1814; but 
it being necessary to rebuild the church, the remains 
were exhumed and re-interred in 1824." 

The following curious account was given in 1840 by 
Mr. Fitzsimmons, an Irish gentleman upward of eighty 
years of age, who taught French and English at Toulouse 
and claimed to be a runaway monk : 

" I was a prisoner in Paris, in the convent of the Eng 
lish Benedictines in the Rue St. Jaques, during part of the 
Revolution. In the year 1793 or 1794, the body of King 
James II. of England (died 1701) was in one of the chap- 
els there, where it had been deposited some time, under 
the expectation that it would one day be sent to England 
for interment in Westminster Abbey. It had never been 
buried. The body was in a wooden coffin, inclosed in a 
leaden one ; and that again inclosed in a second wooden 
one, covered with black velvet. While I was a prisoner 
the sans-culottes broke open the coffins to get at the lead 
to cast into bullets. The body lay exposed nearly a 
whole day. It was swaddled like a mummy, bound 
tight with garters. The sans-culottes took out the body, 
which had been embalmed. There was a strong smell 
of vinegar and camphor. The corpse was beautiful and 
perfect. The hands and nails were very fine. I moved 
and bent every finger. I never saw so fine a set of 
teeth in my life. A young lady, a fellow prisoner, 
wished much to have a tooth ; I tried to get one out for 
her, but could not, they were so firmly fixed. The feet 
also were very beautiful. The face and cheeks were 
just as if he were alive. I rolled his eyes ; the eye-balls 
were perfectly firm under my finger. The French and 

90 



SDtetmgutetjet) spm ant) Women* 

English prisoners gave money to the sans-culottes for 
showing the body. The trouserless crowd said he was 
a good sans-culotte, and they were going to put him into 
a hole in the public churchyard like other sans-culottes ; 
and he was carried away, but where the body was thrown 
I never heard. King George IV. tried all in his power to 
get tidings of the body, but could not. Around the chapel 
were several wax moulds of the face hung up, made prob- 
ably at the time of the king's death, and the face of the 
corpse was very like them. The body had been origi- 
nally kept at the palace of St. Germain, from whence it 
was brought to the convent of the Benedictines." 

James V. (of Scotland), 15 12-1542. " It came with a 
lass, and it will go with a lass." He referred to the 
Scotch crown. 

JEFFERSON (Thomas, third President of the United 
States), 1 743-1 826. "/ resign my spirit to God, my 
daughter to my country" 

His death was very remarkable : it occurred on July 
4, 1826, while the nation was celebrating the fiftieth an- 
niversary of the Declaration of Independence, which he 
had written. On the same day, and almost at the same 
hour, John Adams, the second President, who had signed 
with him the Declaration, died in New England. 

JEROME (of Prague), the companion of John Huss, was 
born at Prague in the latter half of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, and suffered at the stake, May 30, 14.16. "Bring 
thy torch hither ; do thine office before my face ; had I 

91 



4USt OTotDS Of 

feared death I might have avoided it." These brave 
words were addressed to the executioner who was about 
to kindle the fire behind him. Some give his last words 
thus : " This soul in flames I offer, Christ, to thee." 

JOAN OF Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, surnamed " the Maid of 
Orleans," burned at the stake May 31, 143 1, in the 
twenty-first year of her age. " The Virgin- Martyr of 
French Liberty "), 1410-1431. "Jesus! Jesus!" 

She died declaring that her voices had not deceived 
her, and with the name of Jesus on her lips. 

JOHNSON (Dr. Samuel, " Colossus of English litera- 
ture "), 1 709-1 784. " God bless you, my dear!" to Miss 
Morris. 

JOSEPH II. (of Germany), 1741-1790. "Let my epi- 
taph be, " Here lies Joseph, who was unsuccessful in all 
his undertakings." 

JUDSON (Adoniram, missionary to Burmah and trans- 
lator of the Bible into the language of that country), 
1 788-1 850. "Brother Ranitey, will you bury me? bury 
me ? — quick ! quick ! " These words were prompted per- 
haps by the thought of burial at sea. A moment later 
he said to his servant, " Take care of poor mistress" 
meaning Mrs. Judson. 

JUDSON (Mrs. Ann Hasseltine, wife of Adoniram Jud- 
son, and with him a missionary in Burmah), 1 789-1 826. 
" I feel quite well, only very weak." 

92 



SE>t0ttngut0tjeD $$m ana Women* 

Julian (Julianus Flavius Claudius, surnamed " The 
Apostate," on account of his renunciation of Christianity. 
He was Roman emperor from 361 to 363), 331-363. 
" Thou hast conquered, O Galilean ! thou hast conquered! " 
Some authorities give his last words thus : " Sun, thou 
hast betrayed me ! " Julian was a worshipper of the 
sun. 

And Julian being carried to his tent, he took a handful 
of the blood which flowed from his wound, and flung it 
into the air, exclaiming with his last breath, " Thou hast 
conquered, O Galilean ! thou hast conquered ! " Then 
the demons received his parting spirit. — Mrs. Jameson. 

The historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, who was in the 
army of Julian, states that when he was wounded his ad- 
mirers compared the scene that followed in his tent to 
that which Plato has drawn in the prison of Socrates; not 
without the confession that it was an affected imitation. 
This testimony is preferable to the imaginary pictures of 
Christian orators of the apostate clutching the sand and 
crying, " O Galilean, thou hast conquered ! " The real 
triumph of Christianity needs no such melodramatic in- 
ventions conceived in the spirit of an age of ornate rhet- 
oric. — Smith's Universal History ', Hi, JIJ. 

Keats (John), 1 796-1 821. " I feel the flowers grow- 
ing over me." Some say his last words were : " I die of 
a broken heart." 

The severity of an article written by Gifford in review 
of " Endymion " in the Quarterly Review affected the 
young poet very deeply, and is even said to have occa- 
sioned the consumption from which he died at Rome 

93 



Ha0t OTor&g of 

where he had but just completed his twenty-fourth 
year. 

Over the grave of Keats in the Old Protestant ceme- 
tery at Rome is the inscription : " This grave contains 
all that was mortal of a young English poet, who, on his 
death-bed, in the bitterness of his heart at the malicious 
power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraved 
on his tombstone : ' Here lies one whose name was writ 
in water.' February 24, 1821." 

In the " Letters and Memorials of Archbishop 
Trench," occurs the following distressing letter on the 
last days of Keats, addressed to Trench by a friend in 
Rome: 

"I have made Severn's acquaintance. He is a very 
fine fellow, and I like him amazingly. My only intro- 
duction to him was our common admiration of Keats, 
whose memory he cherishes most affectionately, and of 
whom he is never tired of speaking when he finds one 
who listens with gladness. I sat in his studio for hours 
while he painted a design which Keats suggested to him, 
and all the while he was telling me particulars of his 
last days. His sufferings were terrible and prolonged. 
Shelley and Hunt had deprived him of his belief in 
Christianity, which he wanted in the end, and he en- 
deavored to fight back to it, saying if Severn would get 
him a Jeremy Taylor he thought he could believe ; but 
it was not to be found in Rome. Another time (which 
is to me peculiarly painful, though it shows at the same 
time how little way he had proceeded in a particular line 
of thought), having been betrayed into considerable im- 
patience by bodily and mental anguish, he cried, on recov- 

94 



ering himself, ' By God, Severn, a man ought to have 
some superstition, that he may die decently.' ' 

King (Thomas Star, Unitarian clergyman), 1 824-1 864. 
" Dear little fellow — he is a beautiful boy." This he said 
of his little son who had been brought in to see him. 

KlNGSLEY (Charles, clergyman, novelist, and poet), 
1 8 19-1875. " Thou know est, Lord, the secrets of our 
hearts; shut not Thy merciful ears to our prayer, but spare 
us, Lord most holy, God most mighty, holy and 
merciful Saviour, Thou most worthy Judge Eternal, suffer 
us not at our last hour, from any pains of death, to fall 
from Thee." 

From the " Burial Service" of the Episcopal Church. 

In the night he was heard murmuring, " No more fight- 
ing: no more fighting." Then followed intense earnest 
prayers, which were his habit when alone. His warfare 
was accomplished ; he had fought the good fight ; and, 
on one of his last nights on earth, his daughter heard him 
exclaim, " How beautiful God is ! " The last morning, 
at five o'clock, just after his eldest daughter and his phy- 
sician, who had sat up all night, had left him, and he 
thought himself alone, he was heard, in a clear voice, re- 
peating the Burial Service. He turned on his side after 
this, and never spoke again. 

Letters and Memoirs of Charles Kingsley, by his wife. 

KLOPSTOCK (Friedrich Gottlieb), 1 724-1 803. He died 
reciting his own beautiful verses, descriptive of the death 
of Mary, the sister of Lazarus. The song of Mary was 
sung at the public funeral of the poet. 

95 



tot »ort)0 of 

Knox (John, Scotch reformer), 1505-1572. " Now it 
is come." Some give his last words thus : " Live in Christ, 
live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death." 

La Harpe or LAHARPE DE (Jean Francois, French 
critic and dramatist), 1 739-1 803. " I am grateful to Di- 
vine Mercy for having left me sufficient recollection to feel 
how consoling these prayers are to the dying." These are 
his last recorded words, and refer to the prayers for the 
sick to which he was attending, but later he conversed 
with M. Fontanes, and did not die until the next day. 

Latimer (Hugh, early English reformer and martyr), 
about 1472-1555. 

" Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man: 
we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace, in 
England, as I trust shall never be put out." 

Latimer and Ridley suffered martyrdom at Oxford at 
the same time, October 16, 1555. 

LAUD (William, Archbishop of Canterbury and favorite 
minister of Charles I.), 1573— 1645. "Lord, receive my 
soul," spoken to the headsman as a signal to strike. 

Laud was declared guilty of treason, and executed on 
Tower Hill, January 10, 1645. 

LAURENTIUS (" Saint," a deacon of Rome who was 
roasted alive on a gridiron before a slow fire), about A. D. 
258. " Assatus est; jam versa et manduca" — "I am 
roasted, — now turn me, and eat me." According to 
some authorities he said later : " I thank thee, O my God 

96 



2Di0ttngtu£fyeD spot anD WSLomtn. 

and Saviour, that I have been found worthy to enter into 
thy beatitude." 

Lee (Robert Edmund, distinguished Confederate gen- 
eral, and president of Washington College, at Lexington, 
Virginia), 1 806-1 870. " Tell Hill he must come up." 
During his last hours his mind wandered, and he was liv- 
ing over again in his disordered imagination the military 
campaign through which he had passed. 

His body lies in the mausoleum erected at the rear of 
the College chapel, and beside him are laid his wife and 
his daughter Agnes. Above the tomb, and visible from 
the chapel hall, is Valentine's recumbent marble figure of 
Lee the soldier taking his rest, with his sword sheathed 
at his side and his martial cloak around him. — White. 

Leo X. (Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, elected Pope 
March 11, 15 13), 1475-15 21. " 1 have been murdered; 
no remedy can prevent my speedy death." It is believed 
that he was poisoned. 

The circumstances attending the death of the pontiff 
are involved in mysterious and total obscurity, and the 
accounts given of this event by Varillas and similar writ- 
ers in subsequent times, are the spurious offspring of 
their own imagination. — Roscoe ; Life of Leo the Tenth. 

Leo X. expired upon the 1st day of December, 1521. 
The vacillating game he played in European politics had 
just been crowned with momentary success. Some folk 
believed that the Pope died of joy after hearing that his 
Imperial allies had entered the town of Milan ; others 
thought that he succumbed to poison. We do not know 

7 97 



ilast WLoxtM of 

what caused his death. But the unsoundness of his con- 
stitution, overtaxed by dissipation and generous living, 
in the midst of public cares for which the man had hardly 
nerve enough, may suffice to account for a decease cer- 
tainly sudden and premature. 

Symond : Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti. 

LlEBER (Francis, German author, political refugee, 
and, later, Professor of History and Political Science in 
Columbia College, New York), 1 800-1 872. 

On the afternoon of the 2d of October, 1872, he was 
sitting quietly, listening to his wife, who was reading 
aloud to him as was her custom, when he gave one cry 
and immediately died. — Perry's Life and Letters of Lieber. 

LlNDSEY (Theophilus, English Unitarian clergyman), 
1 723-1 808. "No, whatever is, is best," — said to a friend 
who suggested that his fortitude sprang from his recol- 
lection of the maxim, ''Whatever is, is right." 

LlPPARD (George, American author), 1822-1854, "Is 
this death f" to his physician. 

Lippard wrote a number of sensational novels, and a 
book on " Washington and his Generals." He was the 
founder of the once strong and useful Brotherhood of the 
Union, a secret charitable institution. 

LOCKE (John, author of the celebrated " Essay Con- 
cerning the Human Understanding"), 163 2- 1704. " O, 
the depth of the riches of the goodness and knowledge of 
God!" 

98 



HDfetmguteljeU $)m an* Women* 

Longfellow (Henry Wadsworth) 1807 -1882, 
" Now I know that I must be very ill, since you have been 
sent for" said to his sister who came from Portland, Me. 

LOUIS I. (Louis le Debonnaire), 778-840. " Huz / 



He turned his face to the wall and twice cried, " Huz ! 
huz !" (" Out ! out !") and then died. — Bouquet. 

Louis IX. (Saint Louis, canonized by Pope Boniface 
VIII. in 1297), 12 1 5-1 270. "/ will enter now into the 
house of the Lord" 

Some authorities say his last words were, " We will go 
to Jerusalem." 

Louis XIV. (surnamed Le Grand, often called Louis 
QUATORZE, the most magnificent of the Bourbon Kings, 
1638-17 1 5. "Why weep ye? Did you think I should 
live forever ?" then after a pause, " / thought dying had 
been harder." Some say his last words were : " O God, 
come to mine aid ! O Lord, make haste to help me !" 

On Sunday, August 31, towards eleven o'clock in the 
evening, the prayers for the dying were said for Louis 
XIV. He recited them himself in a louder voice than 
any of the spectators ; and seemed still more majestic on 
his death-bed than on his throne. When the prayers 
were ended he recognized Cardinal de Rohan and said to 
him, " These are the graces of the Church." Several 
times he repeated : " Nunc est hora mortis." Then he 
said, " O God, come unto mine aid ; O Lord, make haste 
to help me." These were his last words. The agony 

99 



— ■ 



ILast Worte of 

was beginning. It lasted all night, and on Sunday, Sep- 
tember i, 171 5, at a quarter past eight in the morning, 
Louis XIV., aged seventy-seven years lacking three days, 
during sixty-two of which he had been a king, yielded 
his great soul to God. — Imbert de Saint- Amand. 

LOUIS XVI. (guillotined by a wild and blood-thirsty 
mob, called the French Republic, the 21st of January, 
1793), 1 754-1 793. "Frenchmen, I die innocent of all 
the crimes which have been imputed to me. I forgive my 
enemies ; I implore God, from the bottom of my heart, to 
pardon them, and not to take vengeance on the French na- 
tion for the blood about to be shed,." 

He was proceeding, when Santerre, who was on horse- 
back near the scaffold, made a signal for the drums to 
beat, when the assistants seized their victim, and the hor- 
rid murder was completed. 

When the king's head was severed from the body, one 
of the executioners held it up by the hair, dancing at the 
same time around the scaffold, with the most savage ex- 
ultation. — Contemporary History of the French Revolution. 

LOUIS XVIII. (Louis Stanislas Xavier) 175 5-1824. 
" A King should die standing." 

Lovat (Lord Fraser of Lovat, Scottish Jacobite con- 
spirator. In the rebellion of 1745 he was detected in 
treasonable acts against King George, for which he was 
executed), about 1 666-1 747. 

He was beheaded on Tower Hill. On reaching the 
scaffold, he asked for the executioner, and presented him 
with a purse containing ten guineas. He then asked to see 

100 



SDtgtmgutstyetJ ^m ant) Women* 

the axe, felt its edge, and said he thought it would do. 
Next he looked at his coffin, on which was inscribed : 

Simon, Dominus Fraser De Lovat. 

Decollat April 9, 1747 

^Etat suae 80. 

After repeating some lines from Horace, and next from 
Ovid, he prayed, then bade adieu to his solicitor and 
agent in Scotland ; finally the executioner completed his 
work, the head falling from the body. Lord Lovat was 
the last person beheaded in England. 

Andrews : Bygone Punishments. 

LUCAN or LUCANUS (Marcus Annaeus, Roman epic 
poet, nephew of the philosopher Seneca), 38-65. 

Lucan exhibited great apparent serenity at the ap- 
proach of death. After the veins of his arm had been 
voluntarily opened, and he had lost a large quantity of 
blood, he felt his hands and his legs losing their vitality. 
As the hour of death approached, he commenced repeat- 
ing several lines out of his own " Pharsalia," descriptive of 
a person similarly situated to himself. These lines he re- 
peated until he died : 

" Asunder flies the man — 
No single wound the gaping rupture seems, 
Where trickling crimson flows the tender streams ; 
But from an opening horrible and wide 
A thousand vessels pour the bursting tide : 
At once the winding channel's course was broke, 
Where wandering life her mazy journey took." 

Winslow : " Anatomy of Suicide." 
7* IOI 



tlast OTor&s of 

LUTHER (Martin, the greatest of the Protestant re- 
formers), 1484-1546. "Yes," in response to the question 
whether he stood by the doctrines of Scripture as he had 
taught them. 

The same man who could scold like a fishwife could be 
as gentle as a tender maiden. At times he was as fierce 
as the storm that uproots oaks ; and then again he was 
as mild as the zephyr caressing the violets. . . . The 
refinement of Erasmus, the mildness of Melancthon, could 
never have brought us so far as the godlike brutality of 
brother Martin. — Heine. 

Macaulay (Thomas Babington, Lord), 1 800-1 859. 
" / shall retire early ; I am very tired'' said to his butler, 
who asked him if he would not rest on the sofa. 

MACCAIL (his given name has not been preserved, a 
Scots Covenanter who expired under torture in the time 
of Charles II. of England) — 1668. He died in an ecstasy 
of joy, and his last words were : " Farewell sun, moon, and 
stars ; farewell, world and time ; farewell, weak and frail 
body ; welcome, eternity ; welcome, angels and saints ; wel- 
come, Saviour of the world ; welcome, God, the Judge of 

air 

Machiavelli, or Macchiavelli, sometimes Machi- 
AVEL (Nicholas, a celebrated atheist, and the author 
of "The Prince"), 1469-1530. " I desire to go to hell, 
and not to heaven. In the former place I shall enjoy the 
company of popes, kings, and princes, while in the latter 
are only beggars, monks, hermits, and apostles." 

102 



SDtetmgtusfyeu $pen anu Women* 

Mackintosh (Sir James, philosopher and politician), 
I 765-1832. "Happy." 

Malherbe (Francois de, the " Father of French lyric 
poetry"), 1555-1628. "Hold your tongue; your 
wretched style only makes me out of conceit with them" 
to his confessor, who was presenting the joys of heaven 
in vulgar and trite phrases. 

His ruling passion was purity of diction. He would 
destroy a quire of paper in composing a single stanza ; 
and it is said that during the twenty-five most prolific 
years of his life he made only about thirty- three verses a 
year. 

Marat (Jean Paul, court-physician, author of several 
scientific works, and later the main promoter of the Reign 
of Terror in France), 1 743-1 793. "Help, my dear — 
help / " As Marat uttered these words he fell at the feet 
of Charlotte Corday, and immediately expired. 

Charlotte, motionless, and as if petrified at her crime, 
was standing behind the window curtain. The transpar- 
ent material allowed her form to be easily distinguished. 
Laurent, taking up a chair, struck her a clumsy blow on 
the head, which knocked her to the floor, where Marat's 
mistress trampled her under foot in her rage. At the 
noise that ensued, and the cries of the two women, the 
inhabitants of the house hastened thither, neighbors and 
persons passing in the streets ascended the staircase and 
filled the room, the courtyard, and very speedily the 
whole quarter, demanding, with fierce exclamations, that 
they would throw the assassin out to them, that they 

103 






iUtft HUor&tf of 

might avenge the dead — yet still warm — body of the 
people's idol. Soldiers and national guards entered, and 
order was, in some measure, re-established. Surgeons 
arrived, and endeavored to stanch the wound. The red- 
dened water gave to the sanguinary democrat the ap- 
pearance of having died in a bath of blood. — Lamartine. 
The veneration for the monster Marat knew no bounds. 
Hymns were written in his honor. On divers stamps he 
was placed by the side of Christ. Men swore by the 
sacred heart of Marat The new worship was complete, 
it had prostitutes for goddesses, and a man of violence 
and blood for a martyr and a saint. All it yet lacked was 
to engage in persecution ; and it failed not in this worthy 
business. — De Pressense. 

MARCUS (of Arethusa), being hung up in a basket 
smeared with honey, to be stung to death by bees, ex- 
claimed, 1 " How am I advanced, despising you that are 
upon the earth / " 

1 To some of the most distinguished of our race death has come in the 
strangest possible way, and so grotesquely as to subtract greatly from the 
dignity of the sorrow it must certainly have occasioned. ^Eschuylus, whose 
seventy tragedies, to say nothing of his many satiric dramas, have given their 
author an immortal name, was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald 
head from the talons of an eagle high in the air above him. 

There was a singular propriety in the death of Anacreon by choking at a 
grape stone or a dried grape. The poet whose sweetest and most enticing 
lines celebrate wine and love came to his death at the ripe age of eighty-five 
from the fruit of the vine. Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse, was given by 
the treacherous Maenou a poisoned toothpick which soon rendered his 
mouth incurably gangrened, and deprived him of the power of speech. While 
in this miserable and helpless condition he was stretched upon the funeral 
pile and burned alive. 

Fabius, the Roman praetor, died from the same cause that occasioned the 

104 



2Dtetmgtttei)e& tym ana WLomm. 

Margaret (of Scotland, wife of Louis XL of France), 
1 420- 1 445. " Fi de la vie ! qu'on ne rrienparle plus" 

Margaret was devoted to literature, and, while she 
lived, patronized men of learning and genius. Her ad- 
miration for the poet Alain Chartier is said to have in- 
duced her to kiss his lips as he sat asleep one day in a 
chair. Her attendants being astonished at this act of 
condescension, the princess replied that " she did not kiss 
the man, but the lips which had given utterance to so 
many exquisite thoughts." She died at the age of 
twenty-five, before her husband had ascended the throne. 
Mrs. Hale's Sketches of Distinguished Women. 

MARGARET (of Valois, Queen of Navarre and sister of 
Francis L, of France), 1492-1549. "Farewell, and re- 

death of Anacreon. A single goat hair in the milk he was drinking lodged 
in his trachea and choked him. Chalchas, the soothsayer, outlived the 
time predicted for his death, which struck him as so comical that he burst 
into a fit of most immoderate laughter from which he died. Thus also died 
the famous Marquette, who was convulsed with a fatal merriment on seeing 
a monkey trying to pull on a pair of boots. Philomenes was seized with an 
equally disastrous merriment when he came suddenly upon an ass that was 
devouring with greediness the choice figs that had been prepared for his own 
desert. 

Laughter killed the great Zeuxis, of whom Pliny relates the story of a trial 
of skill with the painter Parrhasius. The former painted a bunch of grapes 
that were so natural a bird endeavored to eat the fruit. Charles VIII. , 
while gallantly conducting his queen into the tennis court, struck his head 
against the lintel and died soon after from the accident. 

Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, was struck by a cricket ball, which 
caused his death. A pig occasioned the death of Louis VI., the creature ran 
under the monarch's horse causing it to stumble. But of all strange deaths 
that of Itadach is the strangest. He expired from thirst while toiling in the 
harvest field, because, in obedience to the rule of St. Patrick, he would not 
drink "a drop of anything." 

I05 



ilast Wlom of 

member me." Some say, upon what authority I do not 
know, that the queen's last words were : " I never de- 
parted from the true church." 

She inclined to the Protestant faith, but Roman Catho- 
lic writers assert that before her death she acknowledged 
her religious errors, and De Remond even goes so far as 
to imply that she denied on her death-bed having ever 
swerved from the standard of Roman authority. — Memoir 
of Margaret, attached to the English translation of her 
Heptameron. 

She was a brilliant writer in both prose and verse, and 
was called the "Tenth Muse." Several authors speak of 
her as " Margaret the Pearl, surpassing all the pearls of the 
Orient." She composed a religious work called " Miroir 
de Tame Pecheresse," which was condemned by the Sor- 
bonne, on the ground that it inclined to Protestant doc- 
trines. She also wrote the " Heptameron, or Novels of 
the Queen of Navarre." 

Marie Antoinette (Marie Antoinette Josephine 
Jeanne de Lorraine, daughter of Francis L, Emperor of 
Germany, and Maria Theresa, and wife of Louis XVI., of 
France; she was guillotined October 16, 1793), 175 5— 
1793. "Farewell, my children, forever. I go to your 
father." 

The king perished on the scaffold January 21, 1793. 
The queen had four children, Marie Therese Charlotte, 
who married the oldest son of Charles X. ; the dauphin, 
Louis, born in 1781 and died in 1789; Charles Louis, 
who died a victim to the brutality of the cobbler Simon, 
and a daughter who died in infancy. 

106 






SDtstmguisljet) $$m ana Womm* 

Mary (Queen of Scots), 1542- 15 87. "O Lord, into 
Thy hands I commend my spirit." 

The first blow of the executioner inflicted a ghastly 
wound on the lower part of the skull. Not a scream nor 
groan, not a sigh escaped her, but the convulsion of her 
features showed the horrible suffering caused by the 
wound. The eye-witness of the execution, whose ac- 
count is published, thus relates this incident : — " There- 
upon the headsman brought down his axe, but missing 
the proper place, gave her a horrible blow upon the upper 
extremity of the neck ; but, with unexampled fortitude, 
she remained perfectly still, and did not even heave a 
sigh. At the second stroke the neck was severed and 
the head held up to the gaze of bystanders with ' God 
save Queen Elizabeth ! ' " 

Meline's "Mary Queen of Scots." 

When the psalm was finished she felt for the block, 
and laying down her head muttered : — " In manus, Dom- 
ine, tuas commendo animam meam." The hard wood 
seemed to hurt her, for she placed her hands under her 
neck. The executioners gently removed them lest they 
should deaden the blow, and then one of them, holding 
her slightly, the other raised the axe and struck. The 
scene had been too trying even for the practised heads- 
man of the Tower. His arm wandered. The blow fell 
on the knot of the handkerchief and scarcely broke the 
skin. She neither spoke nor moved. He struck again, 
this time effectively. The head hung by a shred of skin, 
which he divided without withdrawing the axe, and at 
once a metamorphosis was witnessed strange as was ever 
wrought by wand of fabled enchanter. The coif fell off 

107 



iu^t miom of 

and the false plaits ; the labored illusion vanished ; the 
lady who had knelt before the block was in the maturity 
of grace and loveliness. The executioner, when he raised 
the head as usual to show it to the crowd, exposed the 
withered features of a grizzled, wrinkled old woman. 
Froude's "History of England." 

Mary (Countess of Warwick), -1678. " Well, ladies, 
if I were one hour in heaven, I would not be again with 
you, as much as I love you." 

She is the author of the famous question : " Why are 
we so fond of that life which begins with a cry, and ends 
with a groan ? " 

Mary I. (Queen of England, commonly called " Bloody 
Queen Mary " on account of her violent and cruel perse- 
cution of the Protestants), 1 5 1 7-1 5 5 8. " After I am dead, 
you will find Calais written upon my heart." 

The loss of Calais just before her death affected her 
deeply. 

MARY II. (Queen of England and wife of William III.), 
1 662-1 694. " My Lord, why do you not go on? I am 
not afraid to die." Said to Archbishop Tillotson who, 
reading to her, when she was upon her death-bed, the 
commendatory prayer in the office for the sick, was so 
overcome by grief that he was compelled to pause. 

Masaniello (Tommaso Aniello, the fisherman of 
Amalfi, who headed the revolt which occurred in Naples 
in 1647 against the Spanish viceroy, the Duke of Arcos. 
His victory lasted nine days, during which time he had 

108 



SDtetmgtttsfyei) $$m att& Women* 

one hundred and fifty thousand men under arms and at 
his command. He was murdered by his own soldiers), 
1 623-1 646. " Ungrateful traitors /" said to the assassins. 

Mather (Cotton), 163 3-1 728. " I am going where all 
tears will be wiped from my eyes" to his wife, who wiped 
his eyes with her handkerchief. 

Just before this he exclaimed : " Is this dying ? Is this 
all ? Is this all that I feared when I prayed against a 
hard death ? Oh ! I can bear this ! I can bear it ! I can 
bear it!" 

He was a masterful man, abundant in labors, the or- 
ganizer of over twenty charitable societies, a leader of all 
movements in church and state, an omnivorous reader, 
and the author of 382 separate publications, besides his 
enormous " Biblia Americana," which remains to this day 
in manuscript. He surmounted the prejudices of his age 
in defending inoculation, but not with regard to witch- 
craft and some other matters. His character was marred 
by certain restless infirmities ; " it was his unconcealed 
grief that he was never elected to preside over Harvard." 
His greatest work, " Magnalia Christi Americana," 1702, 
was reprinted in two volumes, with memoir, and transla- 
tions of the numerous Hebrew, Greek, and Latin quota- 
tions, Hartford, 1855. — Biographical Dictionary . 

Mather (Increase, distinguished New England divine), 
1 639-1 723. "Be fruitful" 

Mather (Richard, celebrated congregational minister 
in Dorchester, Mass. He was a voluminous author), 1596- 

109 



Mat TOor&g of 

1669. " Far from, well, yet far better than mine iniquities 
deserve" in response to a question about his health. 

MATHEWS (Charles, English Comedian), 1 776-1 836. 
" I am ready" 

MAURICE (John Frederick Denison, English divine and 
leader of the Broad Church party), 1 805-1 872. " The 
knowledge of the love of God — the blessing of God Al- 
mighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost be 
amongst you — amongst us — and remain with us forever." 

During the early days of his last sickness he suffered 
greatly in mind, but as the end approached the sky 
cleared as after a shower, and his spirit passed away 
under the bright rainbow of hope. 

MAZARIN (Jules, cardinal and chief minister of France 
during the minority of Louis XIV.), 1 602-1 661. " 0, 
my poor soul, what is to become of thee ? Whither wilt 
thou go ?" 

MAZARIN (Hortense Mancini, sister of the celebrated 
cardinal), 1647-1699. "Debt!" 

She was so heavily in debt at the time of her death 
that her body was seized by her creditors. 

Maximilian I. (Emperor of Germany), 1459-15 19. 
His last words are not recorded, but just before his death 
he left directions that as soon as he was dead all his hair 
should be plucked out of his body, all his teeth should 
be drawn, and that both his teeth and his hair should be 

no 



HPtetrnguistjen spm anti Women* 

burned. His body was to be scourged, and then wrapped 
in quicklime, after which, clad in silk and damask, it was 
to be buried under the high altar in such position that 
the priest who said mass should always rest his feet above 
the emperor's breast. His body is entombed in Wiener- 
isch Neustadt under the altar as he directed. 

MELANCHTHON (Philip. His original German name was 
Schwarzerdt, which he Grecized into Melanchthon, or, as 
he sometimes spelled it, Melanthon. Both names denote 
" black earth "), 1497-1568. " Nothing else but heaven" 
in answer to a friend who enquired if he wanted anything 
further. 

MERICOURT (Anne Joseph Theroigne de, the famous 
" Goddess of Reason" 1 ), 1760-18 17. This woman's last 

1 Mile. Maillard, the actress, is mentioned by Lamartine as one of the 
Goddesses, who was compelled to play the part much against her will. 
" Chaumette, assisted by Lais, an actor of the Opera, had arranged the 
fete of December 20, 1793. Mademoiselle Malliard, an actress, brilliant 
with youth and talents, played the part of the goddess. She was borne 
in a palanquin, the canopy of which was formed of oak branches. Women 
in white, with tri-colored sashes, preceded her. Attired with theatrical 
buskins, a Phrygian cap and a blue chlamys over a transparent tunic, 
she was taken to the foot of the altar and seated there. Behind her burnt an 
immense torch, symbolizing ' the flame of philosophy,' the true light of the 
world. Chaumette, taking a censer in his hands, fell on his knees to the 
goddess, and offered incense, and the whole concluded with dancing and 
song." — Lamartine. 

There was also a Goddess of Liberty. The wife of Momoro went attended 
by the municipal officers, national guards and troops of ballet girls to the 
cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Gobet (the archbishop of Paris), and 
nearly all the bishops, vicars, canons, priests, and cure's of Paris stripped 
themselves of their canonicals, donned the red nightcap, and joined in this 
blasphemous mockery. 

Ill 



1 



tlasft Mortis? of 

words were partly reminiscent and partly the incoherent 
ravings of a disordered brain. The old scenes rose be- 
fore her with startling vividness. 

" Died, within these few days, in the hospital of pauper 
lunatics of Saltpetriere, where she had lived unpitied and 
unknown for many years, the famous Theroigne de Meri- 
court (the Goddess of Reason), the most remarkable of 
the heroines of the revolution." 

A Paris paper of August i> 181J. 

Metastasio (Pietro Bonaventura, originally named 
Trapassi, but changed to Metastasio, " a changing," in 
allusion to his adoption by the celebrated jurist Gravina, 
from whom he received a large property), 1 698-1 782. 
After he had received the sacrament, and a few minutes 
before his death, the poet uttered with unusual enthusiasm 
the following beautiful stanzas : 

"T'offro il tuo proprio Fig Ho } 
Che gia d'amore in pegno, 
Racchiuso in picciol segno 
Si voile a noi donar. 

A lui rivolgi il ciglio. 
Guardo chi foffro, e poi 
Lasci, Signor, se vuoi, 
Lascia di per donar." 

I offer to Thee, O Lord, Thy own Son, who already has given the pledge 
of love, inclosed in this thin emblem ; turn on Him thine eyes ; oh ! behold 
whom I offer to Thee and then desist, O Lord ! if Thou canst desist from 
mercy. 

112 



SDtetmgutetjet) 9£m ana Women* 

MiRABEAU (Honore Gabriel Riquetti, Comte de), 
1 749-1 79 1. "Are those already the Achilles' funeral? " 
He referred to his famous " Achilles speech." 

At daybreak he said to Cabanis : — " My friend I shall 
die to-day. When one is in this situation, there remains 
but one thing more to do, and that is to perfume me, to 
crown me with flowers, to environ me with music, so that 
I may enter sweetly into that slumber wherefrom there 
is no awaking." * Later in the day he uttered these memo- 

1 Jeremy Bentham, when lie firmly believed that he was near his last hour, 
said to one of his disciples, who was watching over him : — "I now feel that 
I am dying. Our care must be to minimize the pain. Do not let any of the 
servants come into the room, and keep away the youths. It will be distress- 
ing to them, and they can be of no service. Yet I must not be alone, and you 
will remain with me, and you only, and then we shall have reduced the pain 
to the least possible amount." 

Bentham dreaded the silence and darkness of the grave, and wished to 
remain even after his death in a world of living men. He left his body to 
Dr. Southwood Smith who was to perform certain experiments to ascertain 
that no life remained. After these experiments the following disposition 
was to be made of his remains : " The skeleton Dr. Smith shall cause to be 
put together in such manner that the whole figure may be seated in a chair 
usually occupied by me when living, in the attitude in which I am sitting 
when engaged in thought in the course of the time employed in writing. I 
direct that the body, thus prepared, shall be transferred to my executor, and 
that he shall cause the skeleton to be clothed in one of the suits of black 
usually worn by me. The body so clothed, together with the chair and the 
staff in my later years borne by me, he shall take charge of, and for contain- 
ing the whole apparatus he shall cause to be prepared an appropriate box 
or case, and shall cause to be engraved in conspicuous characters on a plate 
to be affixed thereon, and also in the glass case in which the preparations of 
the soft parts of my body shall be contained, as, for example, in the manner 
used in the case of wine decanters; my name at length with the letters ob : 
followed by the day of my decease. If it should so happen that my personal 
friends and other disciples should be disposed to meet together on some day, 
or days of the year for the purpose of commemorating the founder of the 
Greatest Happiness System of Morals and Legislation, my executor shall 

8 113 



3U0t OTortis of 

rable words : — "I carry in my heart the dirge of the 
monarchy, the ruins whereof will now be the prey of the 
factions." 

Mohammed (The name signified " the praised," and 
was assumed by the founder of Islam. He was origin- 
ally called Halabi), about 570-632. " Allah, be it 
so! Henceforth among the glorious host of paradise." 
Some give his last words thus, " O Allah, pardon my 
sins. Yes, I come, among my fellow labourers on high." 

In his last wanderings he only spoke of angels and 
heaven. He died in the lap of Ayeshah, about noon of 
Monday, the twelfth (eleventh) of the third month, in the 
year 11 of the Hedyrah (June 8, 632). His death caused 
an immense excitement and distress among the faithful, 
and Omar, who himself would not believe in it, tried to 
persuade the people of his still being alive. But Abu 
Bekr said to the assembled multitude : — " Whoever 
among you has served Mohammed, let him know that 

cause to be conveyed into the room in which they meet the case with its 
contents." 

Humphry Repton, author of a delightful book on "Landscape Gar- 
dening and Landscape Architecture," requested that his remains might be 
deposited in a "garden of roses." He selected a small enclosure by the 
church of Aylsham, in Norfolk, one of the most lovely spots in all England, 
where were a number of roses and vines, as his last resting place. On the 
monument over his grave, after his name and age, are these lines written by 
himself: — 

" Not like the Egyptian tyrants — consecrate, 
Unmixt with others shall my dust remain ; 
But mouldering, blended, melting into earth, 
Mine shall give form and colour to the rose ; 
And while its vivid blossoms cheer mankind, 
Its perfum'd odour shall ascend to heaven." 

114 



HDtetmguteijeti speu ana Women* 

Mohammed is dead ; but he who has served the god of 
Mohammed, let him continue in his service, for he is still 
alive and never dies." — Chambers' Encyclopedia. 

Montcalm (Saint- Veran de Marquis), 17 12-1759. 
"So muck the better ! I shall not then live to see the surren- 
der of Quebec," on being told that he was dying. 

MONTEFIORE (Sir Moses, wealthy and distinguished 
Jewish philanthropist), 1785-1885. " Thank God! Thank 
Heaven /" 

Montezuma II. (Monctecumatin, "the sad or severe 
man " — the last of the Aztec emperors), about 1470-1520. 
" 1 confide to your care my beloved children, the most pre- 
cious jewels I can leave you. The great monarch beyond 
the ocean will interest himself to see that they come into 
their inheritance, if you present before him their just claims. 
I know your master will do this, if for no other reason, then 
for the kindness I have shown the Spaniards, though it has 
occasioned my ruin. For all my misfortunes, Malinche 1 , I 
bear you no ill will" 

MONTFORT DE (Simon, Earl of Leicester), 1 208-1 265. 
" Commend your souls to God, for our bodies are the foes'! " 
To his followers, when he saw the advance of the enemy 
at the battle of Evesham. 

1 Malinche, Montezuma's name for Cortes, was borrowed from the original 
name of the conqueror's mistress and interpreter, known in the Spanish 
records as Marina. See "Death of Montezuma ," in Prescott's " Conquest 
of Mexico." 

115 



ilatft Mort>0 of 

MOODY (Dwight Lyman, distinguished American evan- 
gelist), 1837— 1899. "I see earth receding ; Heaven is 
opening ; God is calling me" 

As the noonday hour drew near, the watchers at the 
bedside noticed the approach of death. Several times Mr. 
Moody's lips moved as if in prayer, but the articulation 
was so faint that the words could not be heard. 

Just as death came Mr. Moody awoke as if from slum- 
ber, and said, with much joyousness : " I see earth reced- 
ing ; Heaven is opening ; God is calling me," and a mo- 
ment later he had entered upon what one of his sons de- 
scribed as " a triumphal march into heaven." 

New York Times, Dec. 23, 18pp. 

Moody (John, the actor), 1727-18 12. 

" Reason thus with life, 
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing 
That none but fools would keep." 

Shakspeare. 

MOORE (Sir John, British General, whose death is 
beautifully commemorated in an ode by Rev. Charles 
Wolfe. Byron pronounced this ode the best in the 
English language) \ 1 761-1809. 

He said to Colonel Anderson, who for one and twenty 
years had been his friend and companion in arms: 

1 It has been generally supposed that the burial of Sir John Moore, who 
fell at the battle of Corunna, in 1809, took place during the night, an error 
which doubtless arose from the statement to that effect in Wolfe's celebrated 
lines. Rev. Mr. Symons, who was the clergyman on the occasion, states, 
however, in " Notes and Queries," that the burial took place in the morning, 
in broad day-light. 

Il6 



2r>i0tmgut^eiJ spnx anti Women* 

" Anderson, you know that I always wished to die in this 
way." He frequently asked, " Are the French beaten ?" 
And at length, when he was told they were defeated in every 
point, he said, " It is a great satisfaction to me to know we 
have beaten the French. I hope the people of England 
will be satisfied. I hope my country will do me justice." 
Having mentioned the name of his venerable mother, and 
the names of some other friends, for whose welfare he 
seemed anxious to offer his last prayers, the power of 
utterance was lost, and he died in a few minutes without 
a struggle. — The Book of Death. 

The last words that passed his dying lips were a mes- 
sage to Lady Hester Stanhope, the niece of Pitt, after- 
wards so famous for her eccentricity, as her father had 
been before her. To her, to whom he is said to have 
been deeply attached, if not engaged, he sent his dying 
remembrances by her brother, one of his aides-de-camp, 
and then passed peacefully into the presence of his God. 

Cornhill Magazine. 

MORE (Sir Thomas, author of " Utopia." He suc- 
ceeded Wolsey as lord chancellor, a dignity never before 
filled by a common lawyer. He refused to take the oath 
to maintain the lawfulness of the marriage of Henry 
VIII. with Anne Boleyn, and was therefore adjudged 
guilty of high treason, and condemned to death. He 
was beheaded July 6, 1535), 1480-1535. " I pray you 
see me safe up the scaffold; as for my coming down, let me 
shift for my self y Some say his last words were these, 
addressed to the executioner, "Stay friend till I put 
aside my beard; for that never committed treason." 
8* 117 



3U0t »OtU0 Of 

MORE (Hannah, poet, essayist and moralist), 1744- 
1833. "Joy." 

MORRIS (Gouverneur, American Statesman), 1752- 
1816. 

Courageously he had lived, and courageously he met 
the great change, with entire resignation to the Divine 
will. " Sixty-four years ago," he said just before his 
death, " it pleased the Almighty to call me into exist- 
ence — here, on this spot, in this very room ; and now 
shall I complain that he is pleased to call me hence ?" 
On the day of his death he asked about the weather, and, 
on being told that it was fair, he replied: "A beautiful 
day, yes, but — 

' Who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, 

This pleasing, anxious being e'er resign'd; 
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 

Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind?' " 

Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris. 

MORTON (Oliver P., American Statesman), 1 823-1 877. 
" I am dying, I am worn out" to Dr. Thompson who 
was standing by his bed and holding his hand. 

MoTHE LE Vayer de LA (This learned man's favorite 
amusement consisted in the study of distant countries), 
1 588-1672. " Well, my friend, what news from the 
Great Mogul?" The question was addressed to Bernier, 
the traveller, who had entered his room to bid him an 
affectionate and last farewell. 

MOTLEY (John Lothrop, distinguished historian), 1814- 
1877. " I am ill — very ill, I shall not recover." 

118 



Dtetmgutstyeu spm anu Women* 

About two o'clock in the day he complained of a 
feeling of faintness, said he felt ill and should not recover ; 
and in a few minutes was insensible with symptoms of 
ingravescent apoplexy. There was extensive hemorrhage 
into the brain, as shown by post-mortem examination, 
the cerebral vessels being atheromatous. The fatal 
hemorrhage had occurred into the lateral ventricles, from 
rupture of one of the middle cerebral arteries. 

Sir William W. Gull's account of Motley's death. 

MOZART (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus, 
one of the most eminent of musical composers), 1756— 
1792. The last words which he addressed to Sophie 
Haibl were, " I have the flavour of death on my tongue. 
I taste death; and who will support my dearest Constanze 
if you do not stay with her?" Later he conversed 
with Siissmayer over :the Requiem and was heard to 
say, " Did I not say that I was writing the Requiem 
for myself? " This he said with tears in his eyes as he 
looked at the notes. 

Just before death he demanded to hear again the 
Requiem. Dr. Clossel, his physician, nodded his con- 
sent. Siissmayer sat down at the piano, Schack sang 
the soprano, Hofer the tenor, Gorl the bass, and the 
dying Mozart the alto. Softly swelled forth the ineffable 
music of the sweet, sorrowful, sacred death song. After 
this the chamber was silent as the grave. Only the clock 
ticked softly on the shelf, as it marked the weary hours of 
the passing night. — Condensed from Sill's translation of 
Rau's Biographical Romance of Mozart. 

After all consciousness had gone, still Mozart's fancies 

119 



ilasft WLom of 

were busy with the Requiem, blowing out his cheeks to 
imitate the trumpets and drums. Toward midnight he 
raised himself, opened his eyes wide, then lay down 
with his face to the wall and seemed to fall asleep. At 
one o'clock he expired. 

The swelling of Mozart's body after death led to the 
suspicion that he had been poisoned. But there was no 
other ground for the suspicion than Mozart's diseased 
fancies, which gave rise to the most shameful and unfor- 
tunate distrust of Salieri who, it was reported, acknowl- 
edged upon his deathbed having administered poison to 
Mozart. All these suspicions were fully laid to rest by 
Carpani in the Biblioteca Italiana, 1824. 1 

Muhlenberg (Rev. William Augustus, founder of St. 
Luke's Hospital in New York, and author of the hymn, 
" I would not live alway "), 1 796-1877. " Good morning" 
spoken to a friend who entered the room. 

MURPHY (Arthur, dramatic author, and translator), 
1728-1805. He died repeating the lines of Pope : 

" Taught ', half by reason, half by mere decay, 
To welcome death, and calmly pass away" 

1 A common undistinguished grave received the coffin, which was then 
left without memorial — almost forgotten — for nearly twenty years; and 
when, in 1808, some inquiries were made as to the precise spot of the inter- 
ment, all that the sexton could tell was that, at the latter end of 1791, the 
space about the third and fourth row from the cross was being occupied 
with graves ; but the contents of these graves being from time to time 
exhumed, nothing could be determined concerning that which was once 
Mozart. — Home's Life of Mozart. 

I20 



2r>i$tmgtti0lje& spen an* Women* 

Nadir Shah (Thamasp Kouli Khan, celebrated Per- 
sian conqueror), 1688-1747. "Thou dog!" addressed 
to one of the conspirators who slew him in his tent, June 
19, 1747. 

Nani (Giambattista Felice Gasparo, author of " Istaria 
della Republica Veneta "), 161 6-1 678. "How beautiful ! " 

Napoleon I. (Napoleon Bonaparte), 1 769-1 821. 
" Mon Dieu / La Nation Franfaise / Tete d'armee" 
He died on the island of St. Helena, May 5. 1821. In 
1840 his remains were removed to France and deposited 
in the Hotel des Invalides. 

Napoleon III. (Louis Napoleon, "The Little," 
"Ratipole," "The Man of Sedan," "The Man of Decem- 
ber," " Boustrapa," " Badinguet " and " The Comte d'Ar- 
enenberg "), 1808-1873. "Were you at Sedan?" He 
asked the question of Dr. Conneau. It was at Sedan 
that he surrendered his sword to the King of Prussia. 

NARES (Rev. Edward, "Thinks I to myself"), 1762- 
184 1. " Good-bye." 

NARUSZEWICZ (Adam Stanislas, "The Polish Taci- 
tus"), 1 73 3-1 796. " Must I leave it unfinished?" He 
referred to his " History of Poland." 

Neander (Johann August, the celebrated church his- 
torian. He was of Jewish descent, but early in life em- 
braced the Christian faith, and at his baptism assumed 

121 



ILast OTorte of 

the name " Neander," from two Greek words signifying 
a new man), 1 789-1 850. "/ am weary; I will now go 
to sleep. Good night ! " 

NELSON (Horatio), 1758-1805. " Thank God, I have 
done my duty." He died in battle. Some say his last 
words were : " Kiss me, Hardy." Others give them thus : 
" Tell Collingwood to bring the fleet to anchor." 

His ever-memorable signal to his fleet, immediately 
before the battle commenced, had been : " England ex- 
pects every man to do his duty," and if ever a man lived 
and died in earnest, fearless, unselfish discharge of his 
duty to his country, it was Admiral Nelson, victor of the 
Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. 

Appletorts Cyclopoedia of Biography. 

Nero (Lucius Domitius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of 
Rome), 37-68. " Qualis artifex pereo ! " 

The poor wretch who, without a pang, had caused so 
many brave Romans and so many innocent Christians to 
be murdered, could not summon up resolution to die. 
He devised every operatic incident of which he could 
think. When even his most degraded slaves urged him 
to have sufficient manliness to save himself from the fear- 
ful infamies which otherwise awaited him, he ordered his 
grave to be dug, and fragments of marble to be collected 
for its adornment, and water and wood for his funeral 
pyre, perpetually whining : " What an artist to perish ! " 
Meanwhile a courier arrived for Phaon. Nero snatched 
his dispatches out of his hand, and read that the Senate 
had decided that he should be punished in the ancestral 
fashion as a public enemy. Asking what the ancestral 

122 



Htotrngutsfyea spm ana Women* 

fashion was, he was informed that he would be stripped 
naked and scourged to death with rods, with his head 
thrust into a fork. Horrified at this, he seized two dag- 
gers, and after theatrically trying their edges, sheathed 
them again, with the excuse that the fatal moment had 
not yet arrived ! Then he bade Sparus begin to sing his 
funeral song, and begged some one to show him how to 
die. Even his own intense shame at his cowardice was 
an insufficient stimulus, and he whiled away the time in 
vapid epigrams and pompous quotations. The sound of 
horses' hoofs then broke on his ears, and venting one 
more Greek quotation, he held the dagger to his throat. 
It was driven home by Epaphroditus, one of his literary 
slaves. At this moment the centurion who came to arrest 
him rushed in. Nero was not yet dead, and under pre- 
tense of helping him, the centurion began to stanch the 
wound with his cloak. "Too late," he said; "is this 
your fidelity?" So he died; and the bystanders were 
horrified with the way in which his eyes seemed to be 
starting out of his head in a rigid stare. He had begged 
that his body might be burned without posthumous in- 
sults, and this was conceded by Icelus, the freedman of 
Galba. — Farrar : Early Days of Christianity . 

It was the remark of Nero's father, Ahenobarbus, that 
nothing but what was hateful and pernicious to mankind 
could ever come from Agrippina and himself. Yet the 
story of a strange hand that strewed flowers upon the 
tomb of this tyrant is well known. 

Newell (Harriet, missionary in India), 1793-18 12. 
" The pains, the groans, the dying strife. How long, O 
Lord, how long ? " 

123 



tiasft Worn of 

Newport (Francis, once famous as an opponent of 
Christianity). " Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell and 
damnation!" Died 1692. 

Newton (John, English divine. His early life was 
that of a profligate sailor engaged in the African slave- 
trade. After his conversion he became the friend of the 
poet Cowper, and with him wrote the " Olney Hymns "), 
1 725-1 807. " I ant satisfied with the Lord's will" Last 
recorded words. 

Newton (Richard, an English divine, founder of Hert- 
ford College, Oxford), 1 676-1 753. " Christ Jesus the 
Saviour of sinners and life of the dead. I am going, 
going to Glory / Farewell sin ! Farewell death ! Praise 
the Lord! " 

Ney (famous French marshal), 1769-18 15. "Soldiers 
— fire!" said to the soldiers appointed to dispatch him. 

NOYES (John, the martyr). " We shall not lose our 
lives in this fire, but change them for a better, and for 
coals, have pearls," said to a fellow martyr. 

Oates (Titus), about 16 19- 1705. "It is all the same 
in the end" 

Titus Oates was the son of an anabaptist minister, but 
was educated for the Church of England, and received 
an appointment as chaplain in the royal navy. He was 
dismissed in disgrace from the navy, and united with 
the Jesuits. Later he rejoined the Church of England, 

124 



2E>tettttgut0l)et) $$m an* Wlomtn* 

and revealed a pretended popish plot, which resulted in 
the execution and imprisonment of many innocent 
persons. For this he received a large pension, and was 
granted a residence at Whitehall, where he lived until the 
death of Charles II. Under King James he was con- 
victed of perjury and publicly whipped. William III. 
pensioned him. 

O'Carolan, or Carolan (Turlough, famous Irish 
bard and musical composer), 1670-1738. "It would be 
hard indeed if we two dear friends should part after so 
many years, without one sweet kiss;" these words were 
spoken to a bowl of wine which he kissed when he was 
no longer able to drink. 

ORANGE (William, Prince of, called "William the 
Silent," founder of the Dutch Republic), 1 533-1584. 
" O God, have mercy upon me, and upon this poor 
nation / " This he said when shot by Balthasar Gerard. 

The assassin was put to death by the Dutch, but his 
parents were ennobled and richly rewarded by Philip II. 
of Spain. Philip had offered a reward for the prince's 
murder, and five separate attempts had been made pre- 
viously to kill him. 

Owen (Robert, socialistic writer and philanthropist), 
1771-1858. " Relief has come." 

OWEN (John, English non-conformist divine and 
author, chaplain to Cromwell, Dean of Christ Church 
Oxford, in 165 1, vice-chancellor of the University of 

125 



lim »otf>0 of 

Oxford. He was a man of great ability and devoted 
piety), 1616-1683. The first sheet of his ''Meditations 
on the Glory of Christ " had passed through the press 
under the superintendence of the Rev. William Payne ; 
.... and on that person calling on him to inform him 
of the circumstances, on the morning of the day he died, 
he exclaimed with uplifted hands, and eyes looking 
upward, " I am glad to hear it; but, brother Payne! 
the long-wished-for day is come at last, in which I shall 
see that glory in another manner than I have ever done, or 
was capable of doing, in this world" 

From quotation in Allibone. 

Paine (Thomas, author of " Common Sense," " The 
Rights of Man" and "The Age of Reason " ), 1737— 
1809. "/ have no wish to believe on that subject." 
These words were in answer to his physician's inquiry : 
" Do you wish to believe that Jesus is the Son of God ?" 

There is a dispute with regard to Paine's death. Some 
writers say he recanted and became a Christian, while 
others affirm that he died as he lived — an avowed Deist. 
In his last will and testament he says: " I have lived an 
honest and useful life to mankind ; my time has been 
spent in doing good ; and I die in perfect composure and 
resignation to the will of my creator, God." On the 
other hand some authors say that he was grossly intem- 
perate and licentious, and that he discarded Christianity 
not so much from conviction as from a base desire to lead 
a bad life. 

" In 1802, he (Paine) returned to America and resided 
a part of the time on a farm at New Rochelle, presented 

126 



2r>tsftmgut^eti 3pm ana Women* 

to him by the State of New York for his Revolutionary 
service. Paine became very intemperate, and fell low in 
the social scale, not only on account of his beastly habits, 
but because of his blasphemous tirade against Chris- 
tianity." — Lossing in " Our Countrymen." 

Of Paine's last hours Rev. O. B. Frothingham speaks 
as follows : 

" The truth is, that Paine, though not rich, was in com- 
fortable circumstances. He had considerable property, 
which is specified in his will. His sick bed was sur- 
rounded by friends who ministered to his wants, witnessed 
the firmness and calmness of his last hours, and attested 
the sincerity and sufficiency of his convictions. Not 
even the impertinent intrusiveness of the clergy disturbed 
the entire serenity of his death." 

The commonly received opinion, and most likely the 
correct one, with regard to Paine is this which we excerpt 
from Appleton's Cyclopcsdia of Biography : 

" His attacks upon religion had exceedingly narrowed 
his circle of acquaintance ; and his habitual intemperance 
tended to the injury of his health and the ultimate pro- 
duction of a complication of disorders, to which he fell a 
victim in 1809. The Quakers refused to admit his re- 
mains among their dead, and he was buried on his own 
farm. Cobbett boasted of having disinterred him in 
181 7, and of having brought his body to England ; many, 
however, assert that Cobbett did not take that trouble, 
but brought over from America the remains of a criminal 
who had been executed." 

127 



tlast Worte of 

PALMER (John, English actor of considerable merit), 
1 742-1 798. "There is another and a better world." 

His death took place on the stage of the Liverpool 
Theatre while performing the character of the Stranger, 
and his last words were a line in the play. 

PARKER (Theodore, Unitarian preacher and writer), 
1 8 10-1869. " It is all one, Phillips and Clarke will come 
for my sake" He meant that Wendell Phillips and 
James Freeman Clarke would attend his funeral. He 
died at Florence, where he had gone for his health. 
The character of Theodore Parker was above reproach. 
His tone of morality was high. His motives were ele- 
vated, and, apparently, sincere. His firm grasp of some 
of the fundamental principles of natural religion, together 
with his unfailing confidence in his own powers, gave a 
strength to his utterances of truth and duty which often 
stirred and swayed the moral nature of his hearers. But 
in all his writings we find no expression of a conscious- 
ness of guilt and of need as a sinner, and no recognition 
of Christ as his Saviour. Of Theodore Parker, Lowell 
speaks thus wittily, in his " Fable for Critics " : 

His hearers can't tell you on Sunday beforehand, 

If in that day's discourse they'll be Bibled or Koraned, 

For he's seized the idea (by his martyrdom fired), 

That all men (not orthodox) may be inspired ; 

Yet though wisdom profane with his creed he may weave in, 

He makes it quite clear what he doesn't believe in, 

While some, who decry him, think all kingdom come 

Is a sort of a, kind of a, species of Hum, 

Of which, as it were, so to speak, not a crumb 

Would be left, if we didn't keep carefully mum, 

And, to make a clean breast, that 'tis perfectly plain 

128 



2Di0tmgutet)etj spen anD Women* 

That all kinds of wisdom are somewhat profane ; 

Now P's creed than this may be lighter or darker, 

But in one thing 'tis clear he has faith, namely — Parker. 

And this is what makes him the crowd-drawing preacher. 

There's a background of god to each hard-working feature. 

PASCAL (Blaise, one of the most profound thinkers and 
accomplished writers of France), 1623-1662. "May 
God never forsake me!" 

Payson (Rev. Edward, American Congregational di- 
vine), 1 783-1 827. il Faith and patience holdout." These 
words were spoken with extreme difficulty and in great 
pain. Some report his last words thus: " I feel like a 
mote in the sunbeam" 

Dr. Payson directed that when he was dead a label 
should be attached to his breast on which should be 
written, " Remember the words I spake unto you while I 
was yet present with you," that all who came to view 
his dead body might receive from him one more sermon. 
The same words were at the request of his people en- 
graven upon the plate of the coffin. 

PELLICO (Silvio, Italian poet, author of " Francesca da 
Rimini " and " My Prisons "), 1 789-1 854. " O Paradise! 
O Paradise ! At last comes to me the grand consolation. 
My prisons disappear ; the great of earth pass away ; 
all before me is rest." 

PEMBO (the hermit), " / thank God that not a day of 
my life has been spent in idleness. Never have I eaten 
bread that I have not earned with the sweat of my brow. I 
9 129 



JLatt Wfor&S of 

do not recall any bitter speech I have made for which I 
ought to repent now!' This suggests the prayer of the 
Pharisee, " God, I thank thee that I am not as other men 
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this pub- 
lican. I fast twice in the week ; I give tithes of all that 
I possess." — Luke xviii : u, 12. 

Philip III. (of Spain), 15 78-1 621. " Oh, would to 
God I had never reigned ! Oh, that those years I have 
spent in my kingdom I had lived a solitary life in the wil- 
derness ! Oh, that I had lived alone with God ! How 
much more secure should I now have died ! With how 
much more confidence should I have gone to the throne of 
God / What doth all my glory profit, but that I have so 
much the more torment in my death ? " 

Pitt (William), 1 759-1 806. " my country, how I 
love thee ! " 

PlZARRO (Francisco, the conqueror of Peru), about 
1475-1541. " Jesu / " He was assassinated in his palace, 
June 26, 1541, and was killed only after desperate resist- 
ance. 



POE (Edgar Allen, American poet, author of "The 
Raven"), 1811-1849. " Lord help my soul J '" 

Dr. Moran, resident physician of the Marine Hospital, 
where Poe died, wrote to Mrs. Clemm, under date of 
November 15th, 1849, an account of Poe's last hours, in 
which he represents him as having been wildly delirious, 
sometimes " resisting the efforts of two nurses to keep 

130 



SDtetmguistytf) £pm ana Momm 

him in bed, until Saturday, when he commenced calling 
for one ' Reynolds', which he did through the night until 
three on Sunday morning. At this time a very decided 
change began to affect him. Having become enfeebled 
from exertion, he became quiet and seemed to rest for a 
short time ; then gently moving his head he said, ' Lord 
help my soul ! ' and expired." 

POLYCARP (St., Christian Father and martyr, and the 
reputed disciple of the Apostle John), burned at the stake, 
169. " O Father of Thy beloved and blessed Son, Jesus 
Christ / O God of all principalities and of all creation / I 
bless Thee that Thou hast counted me worthy of this day, 
and of this hour, to receive my portion in the number of the 
martyrs, in the cup of Christ. I praise Thee for all these 
things ; I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, by the eternal High 
Priest, Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son, through whom, 
and with whom, in the Holy Spirit, be glory to Thee, both 
now and forever. Amen!' 

POPE (Alexander), 1 688-1 744. " I am dying, sir, of 
a hundred good symptoms,'' said to a friend who called 
to inquire concerning his health. Some give his last 
words thus : " Friendship itself is but a part of virtue." * 

1 On some occasion of alteration in the church at Twickenham, England, 
or burial of some one in the same spot, the coffin of Pope was disinterred, 
and opened to see the state of the remains. By a bribe to the sexton of the 
time, possession of the skull was obtained for the night, and another skull 
was returned in place of it. Fifty pounds were paid for the successful man- 
agement of this transaction. "Whether this account is correct or not, the 
fact is that the skull of Pope figures in a private museum. — William Howitt. 

131 



Urn Wortis? of 

PORTEUS (Beilby, Bishop of London. Among his 
works are a " Life of Archbishop Seeker," " Sermons," 
and a Seatonian prize poem on " Death." It is said that 
he assisted Hannah More in the composition of " Ccelebs 
in Search of a Wife"), 1 731-1808. " 0, that glorious 
sun / " 

PRESTON (John, author of " Treatise on the Cove- 
nant "), 1 5 87-1 628. "Blessed be God, though I change 
my place, I shall not change my company; for I have 
walked with God while living, and now I go to rest with 
Godr 

Priestly (Joseph, philosopher and writer), 1 733-1 804. 
" / am going to sleep like you, but we shall all awake to- 
gether, and I trust to everlasting happiness," spoken to 
his grandchildren and attendants. 

To Priestly we owe our knowledge of oxygen, binoxide 
of nitrogen, sulphurous acid, fluosilicic acid, muriatic 
acid, ammonia, carburetted hydrogen, and carbonic 
oxide. 

PlJSEY (Edward Bouverie, Regius professor of Hebrew 
at Oxford, author with John Henry Newman, of " Tracts 
for the Times." He favored auricular confession and 
many of the distinctive doctrines and practices of the 
Roman Catholic Church), 1800-1882. " My God!" 

He repeated again and again during his last hours the 
words, " The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was 
given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto ever- 
lasting life." When a common cup containing food was 

132 



SDtetmgutsfyeD spen ana Women* 

brought to him, he clutched it with reverent eagerness, 
thinking in the bewilderment of his mind, that it was the 
chalice. When he saw the friends about his bed kneeling 
in prayer, he raised his hand, with the words, " By His 
authority committed unto me, I absolve thee from all thy 
sins." At last, gazing about him as though he saw what 
the dear ones by his bedside could not see, he cried out, 
" My God ! " and ceased to breathe. His Hebrew Bible 
lay open on a little table near his bed just as he had left 
it a few days before, at I Chron. xvi, where is described 
David's triumphant restoration of the ark of God to its 
place in the reverent worship of Israel. 

QuiN (James, actor), 1693-1766. "/ could wish this 
tragic scene were over, but I hope to go through it with 
becoming dignity.'" 

QUICK (John, actor), 1748-183 1. "Is this death?" 

Rabelais (Froncois), about 1483-1553. "Let down 
the curtain, the farce is over" Some say his last words 
were, " I am going to the great perhaps." 

Raleigh, or Rawleigh (Sir Walter), 15 52-1618. 
" This is a sharp medicine, but a sure remedy for all 
evils!" These words he said upon the scaffold, when 
permitted to feel of the edge of the axe. Some say that 
later he was asked which way he chose to place himself 
on the block, and that he replied, " So the heart be right, 
it is no matter which way the head lies." Others say 
that his last words were these addressed to the hesitating 
headsman, " Why dost thou not strike ? Strike ! " 

9* 133 



iLasft OTtor&sf of 

The lovers of tobacco will remember that it was 
Sir Walter Raleigh who introduced their " delightful 
weed " into Europe. 

Randolph (John, an able but eccentric American 
statesman), 1773-183 3. " Write that word i Remorse' ; 
show it to me" These words rest upon doubtful 
authority. 

RAVAILLAC (Francois, the assassin of Henry IV. of 
France), 1 578-1610, " I receive absolution upon this con- 
dition" Ravaillac asked absolution of Dr. Filesac, who 
answered, "We are forbidden to give it in the case of a 
crime of high treason, unless the guilty one reveals his 
abettors and accomplices." Ravaillac replied, "I have none. 
It is I alone that did it. Give me a conditional absolu- 
tion. You cannot refuse this." " Well, then," said Dr. 
Filesac, " I give it to you, but if the contrary be true, in- 
stead of absolution I pronounce your eternal damnation. 
Look to it." Ravaillac answered, " I receive absolution 
upon this condition." 

On May 27, 1610, Ravaillac was declared by the Par- 
liament guilty of divine and human high treason ; con- 
demned to have his flesh torn with hot pincers and the 
wounds filled with melted lead, boiling oil, etc. ; to have 
his right hand, holding the regicidal knife, burned in a 
fire of sulphur; to be afterward torn to pieces alive by 
four horses, to have his members reduced to ashes and 
the ashes thrown to the winds. The same decree ordered 
that the house in which he was born be demolished ; that 
his father and his mother leave the kingdom in fifteen 

134 



2E>t0ttngui0t)eD $0tn anD Wlomm. 

days, with orders not to return, under penalty of being 
hung and strangled ; and finally that his brothers, sisters, 
uncles, etc., give up the name of Ravaillac and take 
another, under pain of the same penalties. 

RAYMOND (John Howard, President of Vassar Col- 
lege), 1 8 14 — . "How easy — how easy — how easy to 
glide from work here to the work " there, he evi- 
dently wished to add, but his voice failed him. 

READE (Charles, author of " Peg Woffington," "The 
Cloister and the Hearth," "Very Hard Cash," "Griffith 
Gaunt " and " Put Yourself in His Place "), 1814-1884. 
" Amazing, amazing glory ! I am having Paul's under- 
standing." He referred to 2 Cor. xii, 1-4, which had 
previously been a subject of conversation with a relative. 
In the epitaph which he wrote for his own tombstone, he 
shows his complete reliance for future happiness on the 
merits and mediation of Christ : 

HERE LIE, 

BY THE SIDE OF HIS BELOVED FRIEND, 

THE MORTAL REMAINS OF 

CHARLES READE, 

DRAMATIST, NOVELIST AND JOURNALIST. 

HIS LAST WORDS TO MANKIND ARE 

ON THIS STONE. 

"I hope for a resurrection, not from any power in 
nature, but from the will of the Lord God Omnipotent, 
who made nature and me. He created me out of nothing, 

135 



JLast Worte of 

which nature could not do. He can restore man from the 
dust, which nature cannot. 

" And I hope for holiness and happiness in a future 
life, not for any thing I have said or done in this body, 
but from the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ. 

" He has promised his intercession to all who seek him, 
and he will not break his word ; that intercession, once 
granted, cannot be rejected : for he is God, and his merits 
infinite ; a man's sins are but human and finite. 

" ' Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast 
out.' ' If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the 
Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he is the propitia- 
tion for our sins.' " 

RENAN (Ernest, Orientalist and critic), 1 823-1 892. "/ 
have doiie my work. It is the most natural thing in the 
world to die ; let us accept the Laws of the Universe 
— the heavens and the earth remain." 

Some authorities give his last words thus : " Let us 
submit to the Laws of Nature of which we are one of the 
manifestations. The heavens and the earth abide." 

He began to study for the priesthood, but renounced 
that profession because he doubted the truth of the 
orthodox creed. He displayed much learning in his " Gen- 
eral History of the Semitic Languages," was admitted 
into the Academy of Inscriptions in 1856, and was sent 
to Syria in i860 to search for relics of ancient learning 
and civilization. Soon after his return he was appointed 
professor of Hebrew in the College of France, but was 
suspended in 1862, in deference to the will of those who 
considered him unsound in faith. He admits the excel- 

136 



2Dt0tmgttt0l}e& $$m ana WLomm. 

lence of the Christian religion, but discredits its super- 
natural origin and rejects the miracles. 

Lippincotfs Biographical Dictionary. 

REYNOLDS (Sir Joshua, celebrated portrait painter), 
1 723-1 792. "/ have been fortunate in long good health 
and constant success, and I ought not to complain. I know 
that all things on earth must have an end, and now I am 
come to mine." 

Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal and 
French statesman), 1 585-1642. "Absolutely, and I pray 
God to condemn me, if I have had any other aim than the 
welfare of God and the state," in reply to the question 
whether he pardoned his enemies. 

His last words are sometimes incorrectly given thus : 
" I have no enemies except those of the State." 

RICHMOND (Leigh, a clergyman of the English church, 
and author of " Annals of the Poor " and " The Fathers 
of the English Church"), 1 772-1 827. "Brother, brother, 
strong evidences, nothing but strong evidences will do in 
such an hour as this. I have looked here and looked there 
for them, and all have failed me, and so I cast myself 
on the sovereign, free and full grace of God in the cove- 
nant by Jesus Christ ; and there, brother, there I have 
found peace" 

RlCHTER (Jean Paul Frederich, German author), 
1 763- 1 8 2 5 . " My beautiful flowers, my lovely flowers ! ' ' 

His wife brought him a wreath of flowers that a lady 
had sent him, for every one wished to add some charm to 

137 



Ilasft OTorltf of 

his last days. As he touched them carefully, for he 
could neither see nor smell them, he seemed to rejoice 
in the images of the flowers in his mind, for he said 
repeatedly, " My beautiful flowers, my lovely flowers ! " 
Although his friends sat around the bed, as he 
imagined it was night, they conversed no longer; he 
arranged his arms as if preparing for repose, which was 
to be to him the repose of death, and soon sank into a 

tranquil sleep At length his respiration became 

less regular, but his features always calmer, more 
heavenly. A slight convulsion passed over the face ; the 
physician cried out, "That is death ! " and all was quiet. 
The spirit had departed. 

ROBERTSON (Frederick William, an English clergy- 
man of singular purity and depth of religious feeling, and 
of great ability), 1816-1853. " I cannot bear it; let me 
rest. I must die. Let God do his work." 

A member of his congregation, a chemist, asked him 
to look at his galvanic apparatus. He took the ends of 
the wire, completed the circuit, experiencing the tingling. 
He then held the end of the wire to the back of the head 
and neck, without a single sensation being elicited. 
Then he touched his forehead for a second. " Instantly 
a crashing pain shot through, as if my skull was stove in, 
and a bolt of fire were burning through and through." 
In the same letter he writes, " My work is done." Some 
hope might have been entertained if he could have had a 
curate to help him with his work. But the then Vicar of 
Brighton, rather an unsympathetic man, refused to let 
him have the curate on whom his heart was set. So he 

138 



SDtetmgtuefyeti ty)m and Women* 

sank, unrelieved, into death. The dark secrets of the 
hospital of torture hardly reveal greater suffering than 
Robertson endured in those last hours. When they 
sought to change his position, he said, " I cannot bear it ; 
let me rest. I must die. Let God do his work." These 
were his last words. 

He was only thirty-seven years old when he died ; an 
age when he had not reached the climax of his powers, 
or the complete development of his character and views. 
It is an interesting circumstance that after his death an 
inhabitant of Brighton who had stood aloof from his 
teaching during his lifetime, read his sermons and was so 
struck with the beauty of his teaching that in gratitude 
he placed a marble bust of the great preacher in the 
Pavilion. — London Society. 

For six years he continued to preach sermons, the like 
of which, for blending of delicacy and strength of 
thought, poetic beauty and homely lucidity of speech, 
had perhaps never been heard before in England. 
Robertson was unhappily (for his comfort) not very 
" orthodox ; " consequently he was long misunderstood, 
and vilified by the "professedly religious portion of 
society ; " but so true, so beautiful was his daily life and 
conversation that he almost outlived those pious calum- 
nies, and his death (from consumption) threw the whole 
town in mourning. — Chambers' Encyclopedia. 

Rob Roy (whose original name was Macgregor, was 
a friend and follower of the " Pretender " in the Rebellion 
of 171 5. He is the hero of one of Scott's novels), about 
1 660- 1 743. 

139 



iLast OTorDs? of 

Tradition relates that Rob Roy was visited on his death- 
bed by a person with whom he was at enmity, and that 
as soon as the visitor, whom he treated with a cold, 
haughty civility during their short conference, had 
departed, the dying man said, " Now all is over— let the 
piper play ' Ha til mi tulidh ' (we return no more) " — and 
he is said to have expired before the dirge was finished. 

Francis Jacox. 

ROGERS (John, Vicar of St. Pulchers, and reader of 
St. Paul's in London. He was burnt at the stake), — 1 555. 
" Lord, receive my spirit" 

Roland (Marie Jeanne Philipon, Madame. "The 
Spirit of the Girondin Party "), 1754-1793. " O liberty ! 
O liberty / how jnany crimes are committed in thy name/" 
These words, spoken on the scaffold, were suggested by 
a statue of liberty in the public square, and fronting the 
guillotine. 

Romaine (William, English theologian, for thirty 
years rector of Blackfriars), 1714-1795. "Holy, holy, 
holy, blessed Lord Jesus ! to Thee be endless praise ! " 

ROSA (Salvator, Italian painter), 1615-1673. "To 
judge by what I now endure, the hand of death grasps me 
sharply" Last recorded words. 

ROSSETTI (Dante Gabriel, English painter and poet, 
leader in the Pre-Raphaelite movement), 1 828-1 882. "/ 
think I shall die to-night." These are his last recorded 
words. 

140 



2Dtetmgtusfye& speu anu Women* 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti is buried near the waves of his 
beloved German Ocean in the churchyard of Birchington, 
a small village on the Isle of Thanet. He died in 1882 
at his bungalow, on a cliff near by, and his grave is 
marked by a tall Celtic cross of stone, carved with de- 
signs by Ford Madox Brown. The head and arms of the 
cross are decorated with a spray ending in leaves, and 
two leafy branches right and left. The shaft has four 
panels, with reliefs. The upper compartment has a figure 
of Christ, fronting, and two figures right and left in pro- 
file. The panel below has a kneeling bull, with wings, 
to represent the Evangelist. Below that is a kneeling 
painter, with canvas and easel before him and his palette 
on his arm. The lowest panel is filled with a decorative 
scroll. There is a stained-glass window to his memory 
in the little church. 

ROUSSEAU (Jean Jacques, the famous author of " La 
Nouvelle Heloise," "Emile," "Du Contrat Social" and 
" Confessions "), 1712-1778. "Throw up the window 
that I may see once more the magnificent scene of nature." 

Rutherford (Rev. Samuel), 1695-1779. "If he 
should slay me ten thousand times, ten thousand times I'll 
trust him. I feel, I feel, I believe in joy, and rejoice ; I 
feed 071 manna. O for arms to embrace him ! for a 
well-tuned harp ! " 

Rutherford (Rev. Thomas), 1712-1771. " He has 
indeed been a precious Christ to me ; and now I feel him 
to be my rock, my strength, my rest, my hope, my joy, my 
all in all. yy 

141 



Cast Worttf of 

Sabatier (Raphael Bienvenu, French surgeon), 1732- 
181 1. "Contemplate the state in which I am fallen, and 
learn to die" said to his son. 

He was ashamed of his bodily infirmities and of his ap- 
proaching mortality. 

Samson (one of the judges of Israel, of the tribe of 
Don, and the son of Manoah), about B. c. 1 1 5 5. "Let 
me die with the Philistines." After performing several 
wonderful deeds of strength, he was made prisoner, and 
deprived of sight by the Philistines, a great number of 
whom he subsequently destroyed, along with himself, by 
pulling down the temple in which they were assembled. 

See Judges, xvi. 

Sand (George, pseudonym of Madame Dudevant), 
1 804-1 876. " Laissez la verdure" — meaning, "Leave 
the tomb green, do not cover it over with bricks or stone." 

Sanderson (Robert, English prelate, chaplain to 
Charles I., and later Bishop of London), 1 587-1663. 
" My heart is fixed, God ! my heart is fixed where true 
joy is to be found" 

Sarpi (Fra Paolo, author of " History of the Council 
of Trent," and opponent of the doctrine of the infallibility 
of the Pope), 15 52-1623. " Be thou everlasting" These 
words were spoken in reference to his country, Venice. 

SAUNDERS (Lawrence, suffered martyrdom during the 
reign of Queen Mary). " Welcome the cross of Christ, 
welcome everlasting life." 

142 



2T>t0tmgtttel)eti ^m an* W&omm* 

Away went Mr. Saunders, with a merry courage, to- 
ward the fire. He fell to the ground and prayed; he 
rose up again and took the stake to which he should be 
chained in his arms and kissed it, saying : " Welcome the 
cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life." Being fastened 
to the stake he fell full sweetly asleep in the Lord. 

Fox's Book of Martyrs. 

Savonarola (Girolamo, celebrated preacher and po- 
litical, as well as religious, reformer of Florence), 1452- 
1498. " O Florence, what hast thou done to-day? " He 
was strangled and burnt by the commissioners of the 
Pope, May 23, 1498. His last words are sometimes given 
thus: "The Lord has suffered as much for me." 

While he and his companions, all three barely covered 
by their tunics, with naked feet and arms bound, were 
being slowly led from the ringhiera to the gibbet, the 
dregs of the populace were allowed to assail them with 
vile words and viler acts. Savonarola endured this bitter 
martyrdom with unshaken serenity. One bystander, 
stirred with compassion, approached him and said a few 
comforting words, to which he benignantly replied : " At 
the last hour, God alone can give mortals comfort." A 
certain priest, named Nerotto, asked him, " In what spirit 
dost thou bear martyrdom ?" He said : "The Lord hath 
suffered as much for me." He then kissed the crucifix, 
and his voice was heard no more. 

Villari : "Life and Times of Savonarola." 

SCARRON (Paul, the creator of French burlesque), 
1 6 10-1660. "Ah! mes en fans, you cannot cry as much 

143 



ILa$t »orD0 of 

for me as I have made you laugh in my time / " Some 
say that a few moments later he added, " I never thought 
that it was so easy a matter to laugh at the approach of 
death." 

The life of Scarron was one of extreme wretchedness. 
He was, like Heine, a miserable paralytic ; his form, to 
use his own words, " had become bent like a Z." " My 
legs," he says, "first made an obtuse angle with my 
thighs, then a right and at last an acute angle ; my thighs 
made another with my body. My head is bent upon my 
chest; my arms are contracted as well as my legs, and 
my fingers as well as my arms. I am, in truth, a pretty 
complete abridgement of human misery." At the time 
of his marriage (to the beautiful and gifted Mademoiselle 
d'Aubigne, afterward Madame de Maintenon, the wife 
for thirty years of Louis XIV.) he could only move with 
freedom his hand, tongue and eyes. His days were 
passed in a chair with a hood, and so completely was he 
the abridgement of man he describes himself that his wife 
had to kneel to look in his face. He could not be moved 
without screaming from pain, nor sleep without opium. 
The epitaph which he wrote on himself is touching from 
its truth : 

Tread softly — make no noise 

To break his slumbers deep ; 
Poor Scarron here enjoys 

His first calm night of sleep. 

Russell: Library Notes. 

SCHILLER (Friedrich, " the only German poet who can 
contest the supremacy of Goethe"), 1759-1805. "Many 
things are growing plain and clear to my understanding'' 

144 



£Dis?tmgtu0t)e& $0tn ana Women* 

Of his friends and family he took a touching but tran- 
quil farewell ; he ordered that his funeral should be pri- 
vate, without pomp or parade. Some one inquiring how 
he felt, he said, " Calmer and calmer ; " simple but mem- 
orable words, expressive of the mild heroism of the man. 
About six he sank into a deep sleep ; once for a moment 
he looked up with a lively air and said, " Many things are 
growing plain and clear to my understanding." Again 
he closed his eyes, and his sleep deepened and deepened 
till it changed into the sleep from which there is no 
awakening, and all that remained of Schiller was a lifeless 
form soon to be mingled with the sods of the valley. 

Carlyle's Life of Schiller. 

SCHLEIERMACHER (Friedrich Ernst Daniel, distin- 
guished German pulpit orator and theologian), 1768- 
1834. " Now L can holdout here no longer. Lay me in 
a different posture. ' ' 

On the last morning, Wednesday, February 12, his 
sufferings evidently became greater. He complained of 
a burning inward heat, and the first and last tone of im- 
patience broke from his lips : " Ah, Lord, I suffer much ! " 
The features of death came fully on, the eye was glazed, 
the death-struggle was over ! At this moment, he laid 
the two fore-fingers upon his left eye, as he often did 
when in deep thought, and began to speak : " We have 
the atoning death of Jesus Christ, his body and his 
blood." During this he had raised himself up, his fea- 
tures began to be reanimated, his voice became clear and 
strong ; he inquired with priestly solemnity : " Are ye 
one with me in this faith?" to which we, Lommatzsch 

10 145 



Ila^t »r&3 of 

and a female friend who were present, and myself, an- 
swered with a loud yea. " Then let us receive the Lord's 
supper ! but the sexton is not to be thought of; quick, 
quick ! let no one stumble at the form ; I have never held 
to the dead letter ! " 

As soon as the necessary things were brought in by 
my son-in-law, during which time we had waited with 
him in solemn stillness, he began — with features more 
and more animated, and with an eye to which a strange 
and indescribable lustre, yea, a higher glow of love with 
which he looked upon us, had returned, — to pronounce 
some words of prayer introductory to the solemn rite. 
Then he gave the bread first to me, then to the female 
friend, then to Lommatzsch, and lastly to himself, pro- 
nouncing aloud to each, the words of institution (Matt. 
xxvi, etc. ; I Cor. xi, 23-29), — so loud indeed, that the 
children and Muhlenfels (late Professor in the London 
University), who kneeled listening at the door of the 
next room, heard them plainly. So also with the wine, 
to us three first, and then to himself, with the full words 
of institution to each. Then, with his eyes directed to 
Lommatzsch, he said : " Upon these words of Scripture 
I stand fast, as I have always taught ; they are the foun- 
dation of my faith." After he had pronounced the bless- 
ing, he turned his eye once more full of love on me, and 
then on each of the others, with the words : " In this love 
and communion, we are and remain ONE." 

He laid himself back upon his pillow ; the animation 
still rested on his features. After a few minutes he said : 
" Now I can hold out here no longer," and then, " Lay me 

146 



2r>tetingutet)eti ^nt ant> W&omm. 

in a different posture." We laid him on his side, — he 
breathed a few times, — and life stood still ! Meanwhile 
the children had all come in, and were kneeling around 
the bed as his eyes closed gradually. 

Account of Schleiermacher* s Death prepared by his wife. 

SCOTT (James, Duke of Monmouth, natural son of 
Charles II., of England), 1649- 1685. " There are six 
guineas for you, and do not hack me as you did my Lord 
Russell. I have heard that you struck him three or four 
times. My servant will give you more gold if you do 
your work well" said to the headsman, who, notwith- 
standing these words, being unnerved, inflicted several 
blows before the neck was severed. 

SCOTT (Thomas, Privy councillor of James V. of Scot- 
land). " Begone, you and your trumpery ; tintil this mo- 
ment I believed there was neither a God nor a hell. Now 
I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to 
perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty," said to 
a priest who wished to point out to him the way of 
salvation. 

SCOTT (Sir Walter), 1 771-183 2. " God bless you all ! " 
to his family. Some give his last words thus : " I feel as 
if I were to be myself again." 

SERMENT (Mile de, called " The Philosopher," because 
of her rare attainments in literature and of her wide ac- 

147 



iLasft Wor&s of 

quaintance with ethics). She died of cancer of the breast, 
and expired in finishing these lines which she addressed 
to Death : 

" Nectar e clausa suo, 
Dignum tantorum pretium tulit ilia laborum." 



SERVETUS (Michael. He calls himself Serveto alias 
Reves, adding his family name to his own, in the title of 
his earliest book. For twenty years of his life, during his 
residence in France, he was known only as Michel de 
Villanovanus, from the assumed name of his birthplace), 
1509 or 1511-1553. "Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have 
mercy on me ! " 

The sentence was drawn out at great length on the 
26th of October. Servetus did not know it till the next 
day, Friday, two hours before the execution. On a 
rising ground near the lake, a little to the eastward of the 
city, he was chained to a stake, and, the oldest account 
(that in Sandius) says, for more than two hours, while 
stifling in the fumes of straw and brimstone, suffered the 
torture of a fire of " green oak fagots, with the leaves still 
on," the wind blowing the flame so that it would only 
scorch, not kill, till the crowd, in horror, heaped the fuel 
closer. His last cry was, " Jesus, Son of the eternal God, 
have mercy on me ! " Farel's retort was, " Call rather 
on the Eternal Son of God ! " "I know well," he had 
written not long before, " that for this thing I must die, 
but not for that does my heart fail me that I may be a 
disciple like the Master." 

Joseph Henry Allen in the New World, Dec. iSp2. 
148 



2Dtetmgutei)e& $)en ana W&omm. 

Seton (Elizabeth Ann, philanthropist, foundress and 
first Superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United 
States), 1 774-1 821. " Soul of Christ, sanctify me ; Body 
of Christ, save me ; Blood of Christ, inebriate me ; Water 
out of the side of Christ, strengthen me." A few moments 
after she had spoken these words she murmured, "Jesus, 
Mary, Joseph" and expired. 

SEVERUS (Bishop of Ravenna), -390. " My dear one, 
with whom I lived in love so long, make room for me, for 
this is my grave, and in death we shall not be divided." 
The last words of Severus are purely traditional. 

Severus, Bishop of Ravenna, prepared a tomb for him- 
self in his church. In it he placed the bodies of his wife, 
Vincentia, and of his daughter, Innocentia. After some 
years he was premonished that his time to die had come. 
He held service with the people, dismissed them and 
closed the cathedral doors. Then, clothed in his epis- 
copal robes, with one attendant, he went to the sepulchre 
of his family. They raised the stone from the tomb, and 
Severus, looking in, said : " My dear one, with whom I 
lived in love so long, make room for me, for this is my 
grave, and in death we shall not be divided." Imme- 
diately he descended into the tomb, laid himself down 
between his wife and daughter, crossed his hands upon 
his breast, looked up to heaven in prayer, gave one sigh 
and fell asleep. 

Sheppard (Jack, the noted highwayman, the hero of 
many a chap-book of his day, and the hero and title of a 
novel by Defoe, and one by Ainsworth), 1 701-1724. "/ 

10* 149 



2U0t OTtorte of 

have ever cherished an honest pride ; never have I stooped 
to friendship with Jonathan Wild, or with any of his de- 
testable thief -takers ; and though an undutiful son, I never 
damned my mother's eyes" 

Jack Sheppard was a popular idol followed by praise 
and applause even to the gallows. " There was scarce a 
beautiful woman in London who did not solace him dur- 
ing his prison hours with her condescension, and enrich 
him with her gifts. Not only did the President of the 
Royal Academy deign to paint his portrait, but (a far 
greater honor) Hogarth made him immortal. Even the 
King displayed a proper interest, demanding a full and 
precise account of his escapes. The hero himself was 
drunk with flattery ; he bubbled with ribaldry ; he 
touched off the most valiant of his contemporaries in a 
ludicrous phrase. But his chief delight was to illustrate 
his prowess to his distinguished visitors, and nothing 
pleased him better than to slip in and out of his chains." 

Not a few of the highwaymen of the day were " gentle- 
men " and "coxcombs." We have from Swift a picture 
of one such in his sketch of " Clever Tom Clinch," who 

While the rabble were bawling, 
Rode stately through Holborn to die of his calling ; 
He stopped at the George for a bottle of sack, 
And promised to pay for it — when he came back. 
His waistcoat and stockings and breeches were white, 
His cap had a new cherry ribbon to tie't : 
And the maids at doors and the balconies ran 
And cried " Lac-a-day ! he's a proper young man ! " 

SHERIDAN (Richard Brinsley), 1751-1816. "Did 
you know Burke f " He referred to Edmund Burke, the 
celebrated orator, statesman and philosopher. 

150 



SOt0tmgut0t)eti $$m antj OTomem 

SlCKlNGEN (Franz von, Protestant leader and a brave 
German soldier. He championed the cause of learning 
and protected Ulrich von Hutten, Reuchlin and others 
from the rage and oppression of Romish ecclesiastics), 
1 481-1523. " I have already confessed my sins to God/' 
to his chaplain who inquired whether he desired to con- 
fess. He was killed while defending his castle of 
Neustall. 

Smalridge (George, Bishop of Bristol), 1663-17 19. 
" God be thanked, I have had a very good night." 

Smith (Joseph, founder and first prophet of the 
Mormon Church), 1 805-1 844. " Thafs right, Brother 
Taylor ; parry them off as well as you can" to the Mor- 
mon Apostle John Taylor who was defending Smith and 
endeavoring to drive back the mob. 

Smith amassed a large fortune, assumed the title of 
lieutenant-general and president of the church, and 
exercised absolute authority over his " saints." He pro- 
voked the popular indignation by attempts to seduce 
the wives of other men, and was arrested and confined in 
jail at Carthage. In June, 1844, a mob broke into the 
jail and killed Joseph Smith. 

Lippincotfs Biographical Dictionary. 

" I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, 
when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming 
round the corner of the jail and aiming toward the stairs. 

" As Hyrum fell he cried, ' I am a dead man,' and 
spoke and moved no more. As he fell Joseph leaned 
over him, and in tones of deep and sad sympathy ex- 

151 



ILatft »or&$ of 

claimed, * Oh ! my poor, dear brother Hyrum ! ' 
While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother 
Joseph said, ' That's right, Brother Taylor; parry them 
off as well as you can.' These were the last words I 
ever heard him speak on earth." 

Martyrdom of Smith, by Apostle* John Taylor. 
It was believed that sacred as the tomb is always con- 
sidered to be, there were persons capable of rifling the 
grave in order to obtain the head of the murdered 
Prophet for the purpose of exhibiting it, or placing it in 
some phrenological museum — the skull of Joseph Smith 
was worth money. This apprehension, in point of fact, 
proved true, for the place where the bodies were sup- 
posed to be buried was disturbed the night after the in- 
terment. The coffins had been filled with stones, etc., to 
about the weight which the bodies would have been. The 
remains of the two brothers were then secretly buried the 
same night by a chosen few, in the vaults beneath the tem- 
ple. The ground was then levelled, and pieces of rock and 
other debris were scattered carelessly over the spot. But 
even this was not considered a sufficient safeguard against 
any violation of the dead, and on the following night a 
still more select number exhumed the remains, and buried 
them beneath the pathway behind the Mansion House. 
The bricks which formed the pathway were carefully re- 
placed, and the earth removed was carried away in sacks 
and thrown into the Mississippi. If this last statement is 
true, the bodies must have been removed a third time, as, 
since writing the above, the author has it on unquestion- 
able authority that they now repose in quite a different 
place. Brigham Young has endeavored to obtain pos- 

152 



2Dt0tmgtttel)e& $0m anU Wlomm. 

session of the remains of the Prophet, that they might be 
interred beneath the temple at Salt Lake. 

Early Days of Mormonism by J. H. Kennedy. 

Socrates, 470-400 b.c. " Crito, I owe a cock to ALs- 
culapius, will you remember to pay the debt? " 

He walked about until, as he said, his legs began to 
fail, and then he lay on his back, according to the direc- 
tions, and the man who gave him the poison now and 
then looked at his feet and legs, and after awhile he 
.pressed his foot hard and asked him if he could feel, and 
he said " No ; " and then his leg, and so upward and up- 
ward, and showed us that he was cold and stiff. And he 
felt them himself, and said, " When the poison reaches 
the heart that will be the end." He was beginning to 
grow cold about the groin, when he uncovered his face, 
for he had covered himself up, and said (they were his last 
words) — he said : " Crito, I owe a cock to ^Esculapius, 
will you remember to pay the debt ? " " The debt shall 
be paid," said Crito. " Is there anything else ? " There 
was no answer to this question, but in a minute or two a 
movement was heard and the attendants uncovered him ; 
his eyes were set, and Crito closed his eyes and mouth. 
From Jowetfs " Dialogues of Plato." 

SOUTHCOTT (Joanna, a religious impostor who was 
probably of unsound mind), 1750-18 14. " If I have been 
deceived, doubtless it was the tvork of a spirit ; whether 
that spirit was good or bad, I do not know." Last recorded 
words. 

In the last year of her life she secluded herself from the 

153 



3U0t OTotttf of 

world, and especially from the society of the other sex, 
and gave out that she was with child of the Holy Ghost ; 
and that she should give birth to the Shiloh promised to 
Jacob, which should be the second coming of Christ. Her 
prophecy was that she was to be delivered on the 19th 
of October, 18 14, at midnight; being then upwards of 
sixty years of age. 

This announcement seemed not unlikely to be verified, 
for there was an external appearance of pregnancy ; and 
her followers, who are said to have amounted at that 
time to 100,000, were in the highest state of excitement. 
A splendid and expensive cradle was made, and consider- 
able sums were contributed, in order to have other things 
prepared in a style worthy of the expected Shiloh. On 
the night of the 19th of October a large number of per- 
sons assembled in the street in which she lived, waiting 
to hear the announcement of the looked-for event; but 
the hour of midnight passed over, and the crowd were 
only induced to disperse by being informed that Mrs. 
Southcott had fallen into a trance. 

Chambers' Miscellany. 

After the death of Joanna Southcott, her followers re- 
fused to believe her dead, and consented to a post-mortem 
examination of her body only when decomposition had 
actually commenced. After her burial they formed them- 
selves into a religious society which they called the South- 
cottian church, and professed to believe that she would 
rise from the dead and bring forth the promised Shiloh. 

Spinoza (Baruch, his Hebrew name which he trans- 
lated into Latin as Benedictus), 1632 — 1677. There 

154 



can be no certainty with regard to the last hours of 
Spinoza. There was with him at the time of his death 
but one friend who refused to make any disclosure, and 
who chose to pass to his own grave in silent posses- 
sion of the secret. Nevertheless a report prevailed, and 
was for a time believed, that Spinoza died in great fear 
and distress of mind, and that with his last breath he 
cried out : " God have mercy upon me, and be gracious to 
me, a miserable sinner ! " Another report, equally with- 
out foundation, represented the great Dutch philosopher 
as resorting to suicide when he saw death drawing near. 
Spinoza is regarded as the ablest of modern pantheistic 
philosophers. Dugald Stewart goes so far as to call him 
an Atheist : " In no part of Spinoza's works has he 
avowed himself an Atheist ; but it will not be disputed 
by those who comprehend the drift of his reasonings, 
that, in point of practical tendency, Atheism and Spino- 
zism are one and the same." During his life he awak- 
ened in the minds of some of the ablest men of letters 
and religion a bitter hatred it is now difficult to under- 
stand. It is but fifty years ago that Karel Luinman, at 
that time minister of the Reformed church at Middel- 
burg, said: "Spit on that grave — there lies Spinoza." 
Later Froude, Lewes and Maurice have described him 
as a calm, brave man who lived nobly, and confronted 
disease and death with a deeply religious faith. Cole- 
ridge pronounced the Pantheism of Spinoza preferable to 
modern Deism, which he held to be but " the hypocrisy 
of Materialism." Schleiermacher vindicated the memory 
of the great philosopher after the following fashion : 
" Offer up reverently with me a lock of hair to the manes 

155 



!U0t OTorfcs? of 

of the rejected but holy Spinoza ! The great Spirit of the 
Universe filled his soul ; the Infinite to him was begin- 
ning and end ; the Universal his sole and only love. 
Dwelling in holy innocence and deep humility among 
men, he saw himself mirrored in the eternal world, and 
the eternal world not all unworthily reflected back in 
him. Full of religion was he, full of the Holy Ghost ; 
and therefore it is that he meets us standing alone in his 
age, raised above the profane multitude, master of his 
art, but without disciples and the citizen's rights." Proba- 
bly the truth of the matter is that Spinoza was a man of 
pure, brave and simple life ; of gentle disposition ; and of 
rare philosophical abilities and attainments ; but whose 
system, though possessed of much that is true and good, 
is yet essentially opposed to God's revelation of himself 
in the sacred Scriptures, and in the person of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

" Even people who lived in the same house with him 
never suspected how rapidly death was approaching. 
He had come down, as he generally did in the evening, 
and talked for a long time with his companions about the 
sermons which they had just heard. That evening he 
went to bed earlier than usual. The next day, February 
23, 1677, he came once more downstairs, before church- 
time to speak with his friends. In the meantime Dr. 
Ludwig Meyer, of Amsterdam, to whom Spinoza had 
written, arrived. He gave his suffering friend such medi- 
cal assistance as he could; and, amongst other orders, 
desired the landlady to kill a chicken, that Spinoza might 
have some soup for dinner. This was done, and Spinoza 
ate the soup with a good appetite. When Van der Spyck 

156 



2Di0tmgui0t)eD $pm anfc Women* 

and his wife returned from the afternoon service, they 
heard that Spinoza had died about three o'clock. No- 
body was with him in his last hours except the doctor 
from Amsterdam, who went away again the same even- 
ing." — Kuno Fisher's Lecture on " The Life and Char- 
acter of Spinoza." 

STAEL-HOLSTEIN (Anna Louise Germaine Necker, 
Baroness de), 1766-18 17. " I have loved God, my father 
and liberty." 

STAMBULOFF (Stefan N., ex-Prime Minister of Bul- 
garia, called "The Bismarck of Bulgaria"), 1853-1895. 
" God protect Bulgaria." 

STANLEY (Arthur Penrhyn, Dean of Westminister, 
and the leader of the "Broad Church" party), 181 5— 
1 88 1. " So far as I have understood what the duties of 
my office were supposed to be, in spite of every incompe- 
tence, I am yet humbly trustful that I have sustained be- 
fore the mind of the nation the extraordinary value of the 
Abbey as a religious, national and liberal institution." 
Later he said : " The end has come in the way in which I 
most desired it should come. I could not have controlled 
it better. After preaching one of my sermons on the beati- 
tudes, I had a most violent fit of sickness, took to my bed, 
and said immediately that I wished to die at Westminster. 
I am perfectly happy, perfectly satisfied ; I have no mis- 
givings." His last recorded words were: u I wish 
Vaughan to preach my funeral sermon, because he has 
known me longest." 

157 



!La$t OTor&g of 

Steele (Miss Anne, the author of many beautiful and 
familiar hymns), 17 16-1778. " I know that my Redeemer 
liveth" The following lines are inscribed on her tomb : 

Silent the lyre, and dumb the tuneful tongue, 
That sung on earth her dear Redeemer's praise ; 

But now in heaven she joins the angelic song, 
In more harmonious, more exalted lays. 

Stephen (first Christian martyr), "Lord, lay not this 
sin to their charge." — Acts vii : 60. 

STEVENS (Thaddeus, American statesman and oppo- 
nent of slavery ; a man of great ability and nobleness of 
spirit), 1 793-1 868. 

Two colored clergymen called and asked leave to see 
Stevens and pray with him. He ordered them to be ad- 
mitted ; and when they had come to his bedside, he 
turned and held out his hand to one of them. They sang 
a hymn and prayed. During the prayer he responded 
twice, but could not be understood. Soon afterward the 
Sisters of Charity prayed, and he seemed deeply affected. 
The doctor told him that he was dying. He made a mo- 
tion with his head, but no other reply. One of the sis- 
ters asked leave to baptize him, and it was granted, but 
whether by Stevens or his nephew is not clear. She 
performed the ceremony with a glass of water, a portion 
of which was poured upon his forehead. The end came 
before the beginning of the next day. He lay motion- 
less for a few moments, then opened his eyes, took one 
look, placidly closed them, and, without a struggle, the 
great commoner had ceased to breathe. 

Samuel W. Mc Call : Life of Stevens. 

158 



2Dtetmgut0tje& spen ana WLomtn. 

On his monument reared over his grave are inscribed 
by his direction, these words : " I repose in this quiet and 
secluded spot, not from any natural preference for soli- 
tude, but finding other cemeteries limited as to race by 
charter rules, I have chosen this, that I might illustrate in 
my death the principles which I advocated through a long 
life, (the) equality of Man before his Creator." 



STEVENSON (Robert Louis, English author), 1850- 
1894. " What is that?" He felt a sudden pain in his 
head, and, clasping his forehead with both hands, he ex- 
claimed, " What is that ? " and soon after ceased to 
breathe. 

"The Academy" tells this of Stevenson : " An old friend 
had set his beautiful lines to music : 

Under the wide and starry sky 
Dig the grave and let me lie. 
Glad did I live, and gladly die, 

And I laid me down with a will. 
This be the verse you grave for me : 
Here he lies where he longed to be; 
Home is the sailor, home from the sea, 

And the hunter home from the hill. 

" He said one evening at his happy home in Merton 
Abbey, before he started on his last journey, that, when 
out in the Sudan, he crooned himself to sleep night after 
night with those lines which had been set to music by 
his friend. It is fitting that he should lie at rest out 
there in the spacious country, under the wide and 
starry sky." 

159 



M&t «orDsf of 

Strozzi (Filippo, Florentine statesman), 1488-1538. 
He committed suicide while imprisoned by Cosmo de' 
Medici, the first Great Duke of Tuscany. As he was 
dying he cut with the point of his sword upon the 
mantel-piece, this line from Virgil : " Exariare aliquis 
nostris ex ossibus ultor" 



SUMNER (Charles, distinguished United States Senator 
and opponent of slavery. He was a man of great learn- 
ing in history, political science and polite literature ; and, 
notwithstanding the rare culture of his mind and tastes, 
he was always the defender of the poor and enslaved), 
1811-1874. " Sit down" to his friend, Hon. Samuel 
Hooper. As he uttered these words his heart ruptured, 
a terrible convulsion shook his frame, and death came at 
once. 

A few hours before Sumner died Judge Hoar gave him 
a message from Ralph Waldo Emerson, to which Sumner 
replied, with some difficulty, " Tell Emerson that I love 
and revere him." Over and over again he said to Judge 
Hoar, " Do not let the Civil Rights bill fail ! " To the 
last his mind was engaged upon the great problems of 
national interest that had occupied him during all the 
stormy days of the Civil War. 

Svetchine, or Swetchine (Sophia Soymonof, a 
Russian lady and writer), 1782-185 7. Madame Svet- 
chine's last words were, " It will soon be time for mass. 
They must raise me" She was a most devoted Roman 
Catholic. 

160 



Swartz (Frederick Christian, Missionary in India), 
1 726-1 798. "Had it pleased my Lord to spare me longer 
I should have been glad. I should then have been able to 
speak yet a word to the sick and poor ; but His will be 
done! May He, in mercy, but receive me! Into Thy 
hands I commend my spirit ; Thou hast redeemed me> O 
Thou faithful God." After this his Malabar helpers sang 
a portion of a hymn and he endeavored to sing with 
them, but his strength failing, he soon expired in the 
arms of a native Christian. 

SWEDENBORG (Emanuel, Swedish seer, philosopher 
and theologian), 1688-1772. " It is well ; I thank you ; 
God bless you." He told the Shearsmiths on what day 
he should die ; and the servant remarked : " He was as 
pleased as I should have been if I was to have a holiday, 
or was going to some merry-making." 

His faculties were clear to the last. On Sunday after- 
noon, the 29th day of March, 1772, hearing the clock 
strike, he asked his landlady and her maid, who were 
both sitting at his bed-side, what o'clock it was ; and 
upon being answered it was five o'clock, he said — " It 
is well; I thank you ; God bless you ;" and a little after, 
he gently departed. 1 

White's Life and Writings of Swedenborg. 

1 Swedenborg was buried in the vault of the Swedish Church in Prince's 
Square, on April 5, 1 772. In 1 790, in order to determine a question raised 
in debate, viz., whether Swedenborg were really dead and buried, his wooden 
coffin was opened, and the leaden one was sawn across the breast. A few 
days after, a party of Swedenborgians visited the vault. "Various relics" 
(says White: Life of Swedenborg, 2nd ed., 1868, p. 675) "were carried off: 
Dr. Spurgin told me he possessed the cartilage of an ear. Exposed to the 

II l6l 



itatft OTtot&0 of 

Sydney (Algernon), 1621-1683. "/ know that my 
Redeemer liveth. I die for the good old cause." He was 
beheaded on the seventh of December, 1683. 

TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD (Charles Maurice, celebrated 
French diplomatist), 1 754-1 838. "/ am suffering, sire, 
the pangs of the damned" Said to the king, Louis 
Philippe, who enquired his condition. 

Talma (Francois Joseph, " the Garrick of the French 
stage "), 1770-1826. " The worst is I cannot see." 

He was interred, according to his own directions, in 
the cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise, Paris, without any re- 
ligious ceremony, but funeral orations by Jouy and 
Arnault were delivered at the grave. To change, it is 
alleged, his resolution on this score, the Archbishop of 
Paris had sought an interview, but in vain. Talma's 
conduct, it is supposed, proceeded from his resentment 
at the excommunication pronounced by the Roman 
Catholic Church against actors. 

TASSO (Torquato), 1 544-1 595. "Lord, into thy hands 
I commend my spirit." 

When a guest of Rome, lodged in the Vatican, wait- 
air, the flesh quickly fell to dust, and a skeleton was all that remained for 
subsequent visitors. ... At a funeral in 1817, Granholm, an officer 
in the Swedish Navy, seeing the lid of Swedenborg's coffin loose, abstracted 
the skull, and hawked it about amongst London Swedenborgians, but none 
would buy. Dr. Wahlin, pastor of the Swedish Church, recovered what he 
supposed to be the stolen skull, had a cast of it taken, and placed it in the 
coffin in 1819. The cast which is sometimes seen in phrenological collec- 
tions is obviously not Swedenborg's : it is thought to be that of a small 
female skull." 

162 



2r>tetmgtttel)eD $0m anu Momett* 

ing to be crowned with laurel — the first poet so 
honored since Petrarch — he sighed to flee away and be 
at rest. Growing very ill, he obtained permission to 
retire to the Monastery of Saint Onofrio. When the 
physician informed him that his last hour was near, he 
embraced him, expressed his gratitude for so sweet an 
announcement, and then, lifting his eyes, thanked God 
that after so tempestous a life he was now brought to 
a calm haven. The Pope having granted the dying 
poet a plenary indulgence, he said, " This is the chariot 
on which I hope to go crowned, not with laurel as a 
poet into the capital, but with glory as a saint into 
heaven." — Alger's Genius of Solitude. 

Taylor (Bayard, traveller, poet and lecturer; the 
translator of Goethe's " Faust "), 1 825-1 878. " I want, 
oh, you know what I mean, the stuff of life." 

Taylor (Edward T., an American preacher known 
as "Father Taylor"), 1 793-1 871. " Why, certainly, 
certainly / " These words were spoken to a friend 
who asked him if Jesus was precious. He became a 
sailor, and was for many years the chaplain of the 
Seamen's Bethel, Boston. 

TAYLOR (Jane, writer for the young), 1 783-1 823. 
"Are we not children, all of us?" 

TAYLOR (Jeremy, distinguished bishop in the Eng- 
lish church, and author of " Holy Living and Dying." 
He has been called the " Shakspeare of Divines"), 161 3- 
1667. " My trust is in God." 

163 



ilast »or&$ of 

TAYLOR (John, "The Water Poet." He followed 
for a long time the occupation of waterman on the 
Thames, and later kept a public house in Phoenix 
Alley, Long Acre), 1 580-1654. "How sweet it is to 
rest / " 

TAYLOR (Rev. Dr. Rowland), -1555- He said 

as he was going to martyrdom, " I shall this day de- 
ceive the worms in Hadley churchyard." And when 
he came within two miles of Hadley, " Now," said he, 
" lack I but two stiles ; and I am even at my Father's 
house." His last words were, " Lord receive my spirit." 

TAYLOR (Zachary, American General and twelfth 
President of the United States), 1784-1850. "lam 
about to die. I expect the summons soon. I have en- 
deavored to discharge all my official duties faithfully. 
I regret nothing, but am sorry that I am about to leave 
my friends." 

Tenderden (Lord), " Gentlemen of the jury, you will 
now consider of your verdict." 

Tennyson (Alfred, Lord, Poet-laureate of England), 
1809-1892. "/ have opened it" These are the last 
words of the poet that have been made public ; later he 
bade his family farewell, but what he said has never been 
published. 

His last food was taken at a quarter of four, and he 
tried to read, but could not. He exclaimed, " I have 

164 



2r>isftmgui0t)eu spm anu Women* 

opened it." Whether this referred to the Shakspeare, 
opened by him at 

Hang there like fruit, my soul, 
Till the tree die, 

which he always called among the tenderest lines in 
Shakspeare, or whether one of his last poems, of which 
he was fond, was running through his head I cannot tell : 

Fear not, thou, the hidden purpose of that Power 

Which alone is great, 
Nor the myriad world, his shadow, nor the silent 

Opener of the Gate. 

He then spoke his last words, a farewell blessing, to 
my mother and myself. 

For the next hours the full moon flooded the room and 
the great landscape outside with light ; and we watched 
in solemn stillness. His patience and quiet strength had 
power upon those who were nearest and dearest to him ; 
we felt thankful for the love and the utter peace of it all ; 
and his own lines of comfort from " In Memoriam " were 
strongly borne in upon us. He was quite restful, hold- 
ing my wife's hand, and, as he was passing away, I spoke 
over him his own prayer, " God accept him ! Christ re- 
ceive him ! " because I knew that he would have wished 
it. — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a Memoir by his son. 

TERCHOUT (Adele — " La Comete"). The gay and 
thoughtless life of this beautiful young woman ended in 
sad regrets and bitter remembrances, and yet there is 
some slight hope that there was with her at last a thought 
real, if not deep, of better things. 
ii* 165 



Mat mom of 

Does any one remember a beautiful girl who went by 
the nickname of " La Comete," and flashed through the 
Parisian world during the last year of the Second Em- 
pire ? She was called " Comet " on account of the ex- 
ceeding length and loveliness of her golden hair. Theo- 
phile Gautier wrote a sonnet to her, Cabanel painted her 
portrait, Worth dressed her, and Leon Cugnot took her 
as the model of his statue, " La Baigneuse." Her real 
name was Adele Terchout, and just before the Franco- 
German war broke out she declined an offer of marriage 
from an elderly duke, with a very ancient escutcheon. 
At that time she owned one of the finest mansions in the 
Champs Elysees, had twelve horses in her stables and a 
bushel of diamonds in her dressing-case. Last week 
this dazzling creature died in a Parisian hospital abso- 
lutely destitute, and the disease which carried her off 
was the most hideous that could befall a pretty woman — 
a lupus vorax, or cancer in the face, which totally dis- 
figured her. Like Zola's " Nana," the only vestige left, 
of her beauty when she died was her matchless hair, 
which measured nearly five feet. — London Truth. 

Theresa, or Teresa (Saint, Spanish nun, author of a 
number of devotional books, a visionary of whom many 
wonderful miracles are related. She was canonized by 
Pope Gregory XV.), 15 15-1582. " Over my spirit flash 
and float in divine radiancy the bright and glorious visions 
of the world to which I go." The claim of celestial illu- 
mination was made by her throughout her entire life and 
in the hour of death, but just what were her last words is 
very uncertain. 

166 



HHtftmguteijeD 99en anti Mometu 

At her death-bed the bystanders beheld her already 
in glory; to one she appeared in the midst of angels, 
another saw floating over her head a heavenly light that 
descended and hovered about her, 1 another discovered 
spiritual beings clothed in white entering her cell, an- 
other saw a white dove fly from her mouth up to heaven, 
while at the same time a dead tree near the sacred spot 
suddenly burst into the fullness of bloom. After her 
death she appeared to a nun and said that she had not 
died of disease, but of the intolerable fire of divine love. 
Salazar: Anamnesis Sanctorum Hispanorum, T. V. p. $2p. 

Thurlow (Edward, Lord Chancellor in the reign of 
George III.), 1 732-1 806. "I'll be shot if I don't believe 
I'm dying." 

TIBERIUS (Claudius Nero, Roman Emperor), B. c. 
42 — A. D. 37. Finding himself dying, he took his signet 
ring off his finger, and held it awhile, as if he would de- 
liver it to somebody ; but put it again on his finger, and 
lay for some time, with his left hand clenched, and with- 

1 The luminous faces and bodies of martyrs and saints are common enough 
in the chronicles of mediaeval miracles. Some modern physicians think there 
were physiological causes for the strange and, at the time, startling phe- 
nomena. 

Bartholin, in his treatise " De Luce Hominum et Brutorum" (1647), gives 
an account of an Italian lady whom he designates as "mulier splendens," 
whose body shone with phosphoric radiations when gently rubbed with 
dry linen ; and Dr. Kane, in his last voyage to the polar regions, witnessed 
almost as remarkable a case of phosphorescence. A few cases are recorded 
by Sir H. Marsh, Professor Donovan and other undoubted authorities, in 
which the human body, shortly before death, has presented a pale, luminous 
appearance. 

167 



ILast »orU0 of 

out stirring; when suddenly summoning his attendants, 
and no one answering the call, he rose ; but his strength 
failing him, he fell down at a short distance from his 
bed. — Seneca. 

He died without appointing his successor, but the 
people cared little for that. They rejoiced at his death, 
and ran through the streets of Rome crying, " Away 
with Tiberius to the Tiber." 

TlLDEN (Samuel Jones, distinguished American law- 
yer and politician. He was twice a representative in 
the Legislature of the State of New York, a member 
of two Constitutional Conventions, Governor of the 
State of New York for two years, and a candidate for the 
Presidency of the United States), 1814-1886. " Water" 

During the closing hours of life he suffered greatly 
from thirst. 

Timrod (Henry, American poet), 1829-1867. "Never 
mind, I shall soon drink of the river of Eternal Life" 
on finding that he could no longer swallow water. 

"An unquenchable thirst consumed him. Nothing 
could allay that dreadful torture. He whispered as I 
placed the water to his lips, ' Don't you remember that 
passage I once quoted to you from " King John ? " I 
had always such a horror of quenchless thirst, and now I 
suffer it ! ' He alluded to the passage — 

And none of you will let the Winter come, 
To thrust his icy fingers i n my maw ! 

"Just a day or two before he left on a visit to you at 
' Copse Hill,' in one of our evening rambles he had re- 

168 



SOt0tmgui0t>eti spot ant) Womm* 

peated the passage to me with a remark on the extra- 
ordinary force of the words. 

" Katie took my place by him at five o'clock (in the 
morning), and never again left his side. The last spoon- 
ful of water she gave him he could not swallow. ' Never 
mind,' he said, ' I shall soon drink of the river of eternal 
Life/ 

" Shortly after he slept peacefully in Christ." 

From a letter by Timrod's sister. 

TlNDAL (Matthew, celebrated author and infidel), 
165 7- 1733. " God — if there be a God — / desire 
Thee to have mercy on me." 

Tindal is particularly celebrated for two publications, 
the first, issued in 1706, being entitled, "The Rights 
of the Christian Church Asserted against the Romish 
and all other Priests; " and the other, published in 1730, 
called, " Christianity as Old as the Creation, or the 
Gospel a Republication of the Religion of Nature." 

TlTUS (Flavius Vespasianus, Roman Emperor. He 
was called by his subjects, " The love and delight of 
the human race "), 40-81. "My life is taken from me, 
though I have done nothing to deserve it; for there is 
no action of mine of which I should repent, but one." 
What that one action was he did not say. 

Toplady (Rev. Augustus Montague, English Calvin- 
istic clergyman and vicar of Broad Henbury, Devon- 
shire. He was the author of several controversial works 
and of a number of beautiful hymns, chief among which 

169 



Last »ort>$ of 

is "Rock of Ages"), 1 740-1 778. "No mortal man 
can live after the glories which God has manifested to 
my soul." 

TYNDALE, or TlNDALE (William, the venerable martyr 
and translator of the Bible), 1484-1536. "Lord, open 
the eyes of the King of England." He was first stran- 
gled and afterward burnt. 

The merits of Tyndale must ever be recognized and 
honored by all who enjoy the English Bible, for their 
authorized version of the New Testament has his for 
its basis. He made good his early boast, that plough- 
boys should have the Word of God. His friends 
speak of his great simplicity of heart, and commend 
his abstemious habits, his zeal and his industry; while 
even the imperial procurator who prosecuted him styles 
him "homo, doctus, pius et bonus." 

USHER (James, Archbishop), 1580-1656. il Lord, for- 
give my sins ; especially my sins of omission." His last 
words are sometimes given thus, " God be merciful to 
me, a sinner." 

VALDES (Gabriel de la Concepcion, commonly known 
as Placido), -1844. "Here! fire here!" 

Valdes was a full-blooded negro. He was executed 
with twenty other persons, for conspiracy to liberate 
the black population, the slaves of the Spanish inhabit- 
ants of Cuba. The execution took place at Havana, 
July, 1844. Standing before the soldiers appointed to 
shoot him, he said : " Adios, mundo ; no hay piedad 

170 



para mi. Soldados, fuego." " Adieu, O world; here 
is no pity for me. Soldiers, fire." Five balls entered 
his body. He arose, turned to the soldiers, and said, 
his face wearing an expression of superhuman courage : 
— "Will no one have pity on me? Here," pointing to 
his heart, "fire here!" At that instant two balls 
pierced his heart and he fell dead. Little is known of 
him but his death, which was described in the Heraldo, 
of Madrid. "The Poems of a Cuban Slave," edited by 
Dr. Madden, are believed to have been the composi- 
tion of the gifted Valdes. 

Vane (Sir Henry), 161 2-1662. "Blessed be God, I 
have kept a conscience void of offence to this day, and 
have not deserted the righteous cause for which I suffer.'' 

Vane was condemned for treason, and beheaded 
June 14, 1662. 

Vane, young in years, but in sage counsels old, 

Than whom a better senator ne'er held 

The helm of Rome, when gowns, not arms, repelled 

The fierce Epirat and the African bold, 

Both spiritual power and civil thou hast learned: 

Therefore on thy firm hand religion leans 

In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son. — Milton. 

VANINI (Lucilio), 1 585-1619. " I Hi in extremis prae 
timore imbellis sudor ; ego imperturbatus morior." See 
Grammond, Hist. Gal. iii. 211. 

After travelling through Germany, Holland and Eng- 
land, he went to Toulouse, where he was arrested and 
condemned by the parliament to be burned alive. He 

171 



Hast »ori# of 

wrote " Amphitheatrum ^Eternae Providentiae," and 
"De Admirandis Naturae Arcanis," for which latter 
work he suffered in 1619. 

VESPACIAN (Titus Flavius, Roman Emperor), 9-79. 
"An Emperor ought to die standing." A short time 
before this he said in attending to the apotheosis of 
the emperors, "I suppose I shall soon be a god." 

VEUSTER d£ (Joseph, the " Leper- Priest of Molokai." 
When he became " religious " he took the name of 
Damien, after the second of two brothers, Cosmos and 
Damien, both physicians, martyrs and saints in the Ro- 
man Catholic Church. He is commonly known as 

"Father Damien"), 1889. " Well! God's will be 

done. He knows best. My work, with all its faults and 
failures, is in His hands , and before Easter I shall see my 
Saviour." 

There has been much discussion with regard to the 
character and work of Damien. The Rev. C. M. Hyde, 
D. D., of Honolulu, a missionary of high repute, and who 
had personal knowledge of the leper-priest, wrote a letter 
to the Rev. H. B. Gage, which was published in "The 
Sydney Presbyterian" of October 26, 1889. In that 
letter he said : 

" The simple truth is, he (Father Damien) was a coarse, 
dirty man, headstrong and bigoted. He was not sent to 
Molokai, but went there without orders ; did not stay at 
the leper settlement (before he became himself a leper), 
but circulated freely over the whole island (less than half 
the island is devoted to the lepers), and he came often to 

172 



2r>t0tmgutgt)e& spot ana Women* 

Honolulu. He had no hand in the reforms and improve- 
ments inaugurated, which were the work of our Board of 
Health, as occasion required and means were provided. 
He was not a pure man in his relations with women, and 
the leprosy of which he died should be attributed to his 
vices and carelessness. Others have done much for the 
lepers, our own ministers, the government physicians, 
and so forth, but never with the Catholic idea of meriting 
eternal life." 

To the statements of Dr. Hyde, Robert Louis Steven- 
son replied in most violent language, of which the follow- 
ing is a sample : 

" You remember that you have done me several cour- 
tesies for which I was prepared to be grateful. But there 
are duties which come before gratitude, and offences 
which justly divide friends, far more acquaintances. Your 
letter to the Rev. H. B. Gage is a document which, in 
my sight, if you had filled me with bread when I was 
starving, if you had sat up to nurse my father when he 
lay a-dying, would yet absolve me from the bonds of 
gratitude." 

After this and more vituperation follows an analysis 
of Dr. Hyde's letter, and an elaborate defense of Father 
Damien. Men will differ in their opinions of the leper- 
priest, and, no doubt, much may be said upon both sides 
of the case ; but to the compiler of this work, who, in his 
own home, heard the story in all its details from the lips 
of Dr. Hyde, the beatification of Damien is, to say the 
least, a grotesque absurdity. 

173 



ILaat mom of 

Vidocq (Eugene Francois, famous French detective), 
1775-1857. "How great is the forgiveness for such a 
lifer 

He was successively a thief, soldier, deserter, and 
gambler before he entered the public service, and was 
often imprisoned for his offences. About 18 10 he en- 
listed in the police at Paris. His success as a detective 
has scarcely been paralleled in history. 

Lippincott: Biographical History. 

He retired to Paris and there lived quietly in lodgings 
until 1857, when, at the great age of eighty-two, he was 
struck down with paralysis. On finding his end near, he 
sent for a confessor, and — so whimsical a thing is human 
nature — he greatly edified the holy man by dying like a 
saint. One trifling peccadillo he perhaps forgot to men- 
tion. The breath had scarcely left his body, when ten 
lovely damsels, each provided with a copy of his will, 
which left her all his property, arrived. Alas for all the 
ten ! Vidocq had always loved the smiles of beauty, and 
had obtained them by a gift which cost him nothing. 
He had left his whole possessions to his landlady. 

Smith : ' ' Romance of History. ' * 

VlLLlERS (George, First Duke of Buckingham. He 
was assassinated by John Felton in 1628), 1 592-1628. 
" God's wounds ! the villain hath killed me." 

John Felton, gentleman, having watched his opportu- 
nity, thrust a long knife, with a white heft, he had secretly 
about him, with great strength and violence, into his 
breast, under his left pap, cutting the diaphragma and 
lungs, and piercing the very heart itself. The Duke hav- 

174 



ing received the stroke, and instantly clapping his right 
hand on his sword-hilt, cried out, " God's wounds ! the 
villain hath killed me." — Book of the Dead. 

Virgil (Publius Virgilius Maro, most illustrious of 
Latin poets), B.C. 70-19. 

Upon a visit to Megara, a town in the neighborhood of 
Athens, he was seized with a languor, which increased 
during the ensuing voyage ; and he expired a few days 
after landing at Brundisium, on the 22d of September in 
the fifty-second year of his age. He desired that his 
body might be carried to Naples, where he had passed 
many happy years ; and that the following distich, written 
in his last sickness, should be inscribed upon his tomb : 

Mantua me genuit : Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc 
Parthenope, Cecerie pascua, rura, duces. 

VOLTAIRE (a name capriciously assumed by Francois 
Marie Arouet, and made by him more celebrated than any 
other of which we read in the literary history of the eight- 
eenth century), 1694-1778. "Adieu my dear Marand ; 
I am dying," said to his valet. 

According to a document discovered by Mr. Schuyler, 
American Consul at Moscow, bearing on the death of 
Voltaire, and which was forwarded to M. Taine, and pub- 
lished in the Journal des Debats, the last words of Vol- 
taire were, "Take care of Maria," meaning his niece, 
Madame Denys. These words were addressed to one of 
his servants. 

It has also been said that his last words were : " For 
the love of God, don't mention that Man — allow me to 

175 



ilast Moras of 

die in peace!" to one who called his attention to our 
Saviour. 

WAGNER (Richard Wilhelm, German composer 
among whose works are " Rheingold," " Valkyria," 
Siegfried and " The Twilight of the Gods"), 1813-1883. 
" Mir ist sehr schlecht" 

At three o'clock he went to dinner with the family, but 
just as they were assembled at table and the soup was 
being served he suddenly sprang up, cried out, " Mir ist 
sehr schlecht (I feel very badly)," and fell back dead from 
an attack of heart disease. 

Waller (Edmund, English poet), 1 605-1 687. He 
died repeating lines from Virgil. 

Warham (William, Archbishop of Canterbury), 1450- 
1532. " That is enough to last till I get to Heaven." 
Said to his servant who told him he had still left thirty 
pounds. 

WASHINGTON (George, "the Father of his Country," 1 
and the first President of the United States), 173 2-1 799. 
" It is well." Some say his last words were, " I am about 
to die, and I am not afraid to die." 

Washington said to Mr. Lear, his secretary, " I am just 
going ; have me decently buried, and do not let my body 

1 " And Meonothai begat Ophrah : and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the 
Valley of C haras him ; for they were craftsmen."— i Chronicles iv : 14; 
Julius Caesar was called the Father of his country ; Cosmo de' Medici is so 
described on his tombstone; Andrea Doria has upon his statue at Genoa, 
Pater Patrice ; and Louis XVIII. of France was commonly called the 
Father of the Country. 

I76 



be put into the vault till three days after I am dead — do 
you understand me ? " On his secretary's replying that 
he did, the dying man added, "It is well." About an 
hour later he quietly withdrew his hand from Mr. Lear's, 
and felt his own pulse, and immediately expired without 
a struggle. 

A coffin of mahogany, lined with lead and covered 
within and without with black velvet, was made on the 
following day at Alexandria. On a plate at the head oi 
the coffin was inscribed " Surge ad Judicium " / on an- 
other, in the middle, " Gloria Deo" while on a small 
silver plate in the form of an American shield appeared 
the inscription : 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Born Feb. 22, 1732. 

Died Dec. 14, 1799. 

His body was first placed in the family vault on the 
Mount Vernon estate. In his will, Washington left direc- 
tions and plans for a new vault, which was built after- 
ward, and to which his remains were transferred in 1832. 
The front of this tomb has an ante-chamber, built of red 
brick, about twelve feet in height, with a large iron gate- 
way. It was erected for the accommodation of two 
marble coffins, or sarcophagi, one for Washington, the 
other for Mrs. Washington ; they stand in full view of 
the visitor. Over the gateway, upon a marble slab, are 
the words : 
" Within this enclosure rest the remains of General George Washington." 

Over the vault door inside, are the words : 

" He that Believeth in Me, Though he were Dead, yet Shall 
he Live Again." 

12 177 



ILast WorJJs? of 

Napoleon, who was then First Consul of the French, 
issued the following order under date of February 18, 
1800 : " Washington is no more ! That great man fought 
against tyranny. He firmly established the liberty of his 
country. His memory will be ever dear to the French 
people, as it must be to every friend of freedom in the two 
worlds and especially to the French soldiers, who, like him 
and the Americans, bravely fight for liberty and equality. 
The First Consul in consequence orders that, for ten 
days, black crepes shall be suspended to all the standards 
and flags of the Republic." 

WEBSTER (Daniel), 1782-185 2. " I still live ! " This 
was his last coherent utterance. Later he muttered 
something about poetry, and his son repeated to him 
one of the stanzas of " Gray's Elegy." He heard it and 
smiled. 

WEBSTER (Thomas, Professor of Geology in the Lon- 
don University, and author of " Encyclopaedia of Do- 
mestic Economy "), 1 773-1 844. " Examine it for your- 
self." 

WEBSTER (William, English clergyman, and author of 
" The Life of General Monk "), 1689-1758. " Peace." 

WEED (Thurlow, American journalist and politician. 
He wrote " Letters from Europe and the West Indies," 
and for many years edited with marked ability, " The 
Albany Evening Journal"), 1 797-1 882. " I want to go 
home." 

178 



2DtetmgutsfyeD ^m antj Wlomm. 

During his last hours his mind wandered, and he 
thought himself in conversation with President Lincoln 
and General Scott with regard to the Southern Confeder- 
acy. 

WESLEY (John, founder of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church), 1 703-1 79 1. " The best of all is God is with us." 

Wesley (Sarah, wife of Charles Wesley). " Open the 
gates / Open the gates / " 

Whitaker (William, English theologian, professor of 
Divinity at Cambridge, and translator of the " Liturgy 
of the Church " and " Nowell's Catechism " into Greek), 
1 547-1 595 . " Life or death is welcome to me ; and I de- 
sire not to live, but so far as I may be serviceable to God 
and His church." 

White (Joseph Blanco. In Spain, where he was born, 
he was called Blanco, which he exchanged for its English 
equivalent. He wrote many interesting and useful books, 
but will be remembered longest for his exquisite sonnet, 
entitled " Night"), 1 775-1 841. "Now I die." 

He remained some days longer, chiefly in the state of 
one falling asleep, until the morning of the 20th, when 
he awoke, and with a firm voice and great solemnity of 
manner, spoke only these words : " Now I die." He sat 
as one in the attitude of expectation, and about two 
hours afterward — it was as he had said. 

There was no apparent pain or struggle, and it was an 
inexpressible relief to behold, shortly after, the singular 
beauty and repose of features lately so wan and suffer- 

179 



ilastt Mortis? of 

ing ; but there took place in the act of expiring, what we 
had observed in other cases after long exhaustion, but 
had never seen described. A sudden darkness beneath 
the surface, like the clouding of a pure liquid from 
within, the immediate shadow of Death, was passing 
from the forehead downwards, and leaving all clear again 
behind it as it moved along. 

Thorn's Life of Joseph Blanco White. 
Compare the death- bed of the Deist, Blanco White, 
with that of poor Keats, and I think it must be ad- 
mitted that both in faith and fortitude the former has 
immeasurably the advantage. It ought, however, to be 
recollected that Blanco White was older, and had had 
more time to gain strength of mind. But he was also of 
a more religious turn from the first. 

Memoirs and Letters of Sara Coleridge. 

WHITEFIELD (George, founder of the Calvinistic Meth- 
odist Church, and chaplain to the Countess of Hunting- 
don), 1714-1770. "lam dying." He was standing by 
the open window gasping for breath, as he uttered these 
words. A friend persuaded him to sit down in a chair, 
and have a cloak thrown over him, and thus seated, he 
quietly passed away. 

" David Hume pronounced Whitefield the most inge- 
nious preacher he had ever heard, and said it was worth 
while to go twenty miles to hear him. But perhaps the 
greatest proof of his persuasive powers was when he drew 
from Benjamin Franklin's pocket the money which that 
clear, cool reasoner had determined not to give." 

Robert Southey. 
180 



Whitman (Walt, American poet and army nurse), 
1 8 19-1892. "0! he 's a dear, good fellow!' said ot 
Thomas Donaldson, one of his most enthusiastic friends, 
and later his biographer. 

There was a most pathetic incident connected with Mr. 
Whitman's death. It was related to me by "Warry" 
Fritzinger, his nurse. Warry had arranged a rope above 
Mr. Whitman's head, in the bed, which was attached to a 
bell below. He would pull this rope, after he became 
weak, and thus ring the bell to attract attention. Prior 
to this time, he had used his heavy cane to pound the 
floor with. This brought assistance at once. Just before 
he died, as the great change came over him — he was 
conscious that it was a great change, a something un- 
usual (Mrs. Davis and Warry were by his side) — he 
seemed as if groping for something. Death had called 
for him, and, as the call came, he attempted to reach 
above his head with one of his hands and feel for the 
rope, as if to call for help. In an instant the arm dropped, 
and soon he was dead. 

Donaldson : " Walt Whitman the Man" 

Whitman has, amid the fleshly and physical poems, 
much that is deeply spiritual ; amid the tuneless and form- 
less, much noble thought fitly voiced. The higher mood 
and the higher work maybe seen in "O Captain! my 
Captain ! " " Reconciliation," " Vigil on the Fields," 
"The City Dead-House." "Song of the Broad Axe," 
"Proud Music of the Storm," "The Mystic Trumpeter," 
"Seashore Memories," and the death-carols of the "Pas- 
sage to India." 

Welsh: "Digest of English and American Literature* 1 
12* 181 



ilast W&om of 

Whittier (John Greenleaf, distinguished American 
poet), 1 807-1 892. " I have known thee all the time" to 
his niece in response to her question, " Do you know 
me?" 

Others say his last words were, " Give my love to the 
world." 

Upon the silver coffin-plate was the inscription: "John 
Greenleaf Whittier, December 17, 1807, September 7, 
1892." The face of the dead man wore an expression of 
peace and perfect repose. All around his head and body 
was a delicate fringe of maidenhair fern. Directly over 
his breast was a superb wreath of white roses, carnations, 
and maidenhair ferns from that other loved poet and dear 
friend, for whom Whittier wrote his last poem, Dr. Oliver 
Wendell Holmes. Upon the lid was a cluster of white 
carnations from Mrs. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, and 
at the foot were two crossed palms with white lilies. At 
the last were roses and maidenhair ferns. A broad white 
satin ribbon encircled the palms and sprays, and upon 
the ends, delicately painted, were the inscriptions : " In 
memory of John Greenleaf Whittier, September 7, 1892," 
and this verse : 

" Some sweet morning, yet in God's 
Dim aeonian periods, 
Joyful I shall wake to see 
Those I love, who rest in Thee, 
And to them, in Thee allied, 
Shall my soul be satisfied." 

Upon the card were these words : " In memoriam of 
my husband's dear friend. This verse of Andrew Ryk- 

182 



Dtettttgutsfyeu spen ana Wlomm. 

man's prayer was used for consolation by him who wrote 
it in the hour of death. Mrs. Daniel Lathrop." 

N. Y. Tribune, September 12, 1892. 

WlLBERFORCE (William, British statesman and philan- 
thropist), 1759-1833. "Heaven!" Some say his last 
words were : " I now feel so weaned from earth, my 
affections so much in heaven, that I can leave you all 
without regret; yet I do not love you less, but God 
more." 

Wild (Jonathan, noted highwayman, the hero of 
many a chap-book of his day, and the hero and title of a 
novel by Fielding), 1682- 1725. " Lord Jesus y receive my 
sou//" Unfortunately there is some doubt as to the 
genuineness of these pious words, for they come to us 
through the chaplain of the prison, Rev. Thomas Pureney, 
a man of whom we have this description in Charles 
Whibley's Book of Scoundrels : 



" Pureney yielded without persuasion to the pleasures 
denied his cloth. There was ever a fire to extinguish at 
his throat, nor could he veil his wanton eye at the sight 
of a pretty wench. Again and again the lust of preach- 
ing urged him to repent, yet he slid back upon his past 
gaiety, until ' Parson Pureney ' became a by- word. Dis- 
missed from Newmarket in disgrace, he wandered the 
country up and down in search of a pulpit, but so in- 
famous became the habit of his life that only in prison 
could he find an audience fit and responsive." 

183 



flaw Worts of 

William III. (of England), 1650-1702. " Can this 
last long? " to his physician. 

WlLMOT (John, Earl of Rochester, witty and profligate 
courtier and author, and a great favorite with Charles II. 
Notwithstanding his evil life, he was a brave soldier and 
had many attractive qualities), 1 647- 1680. " The only 
objection against the Bible is a bad life." 

WILSON (Alexander, distinguished ornithologist), 1766- 
18 13. His last words are not recorded, but just before 
his death he asked to be buried where the birds might 
sing over his grave. 1 

WlSHART (George), 1 502-1 546. "For the sake of the 
true gospel, given one by the grace of God, I suffer this day 
with a glad heart. Behold and consider my visage. Ye 
shall not see me change color. I fear not this fire" He 
was burned at the stake for preaching the doctrines of the 
Reformation. 

WlTT (Cornelius de). "This man, who had bravely 
served his country in war, and who had been invested 
with the highest dignities, was delivered into the hands of 
the executioner, and torn in pieces by the most inhuman 
torments. Amidst the severe agonies which he endured 
he frequently repeated an ode of Horace, 2 which con- 
tained sentiments suited to his deplorable condition." 

Hume. 

1 Walter von der Vogelweid requested that he might repose where a 
leafy tree should cast its shadow, and the light of the summer day should 
linger long ; and that the birds might be fed every day from the stone over 
his grave. See Longfellow's beautiful poem, " Walter von der Vogelweid." 

2 Horace lib. iii, Ode 3. 

184 



2Dt£tmguis1)et) ^m anU WLomm. 

WOLCOTT, or WOLCOT (John, " Peter Pindar," witty 
and scurrilous, satiric poet. " The most unsparing calum- 
niator of his age." — Sir Walter Scott), 1738-18 19. " Give 
me back my youth" to Taylor who had asked him, " Is 
there anything I can do for you ? " 

Wolcott is well described by Gifford in these lines : 

Come, then, all filth, all venom, as thou art, 
Rage in thy eye, and rancour in thy heart ; 
Come with thy boasted arms, spite, malice, lies, 
Smut, scandal, execrations, blasphemies. 

Wolfe (James, a celebrated English officer, killed in 
the battle of Quebec), 1726-1759. "/ die happy" On 
being told of the defeat of the French. 

WOLLSTONECRAFT (Mary, afterwards Mrs. Godwin, 
English authoress), 1759-1797. " I know what you are 
thinking of, but I have nothing to communicate on the sub- 
ject of religion" to her husband who was endeavoring to 
tell her death was near and to sound her mind in the 
matter of a spiritual world. 

WoLSEY (Thomas, known in history as Cardinal Wol- 
sey), 1471-1530. "Master Kingston, farewell! My 
time draweth on fast. Forget not what I have said and 
charged you withal ; for when I am dead ye shall, perad- 
venture, understand my words better" — 'd Aubigne's His- 
tory of the Reformation. 

He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one; 
Exceeding wise, fair spoken and persuading; 
Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, 

185 



tlasft flK&orte of 

But, to those men that sought him, sweet as summer. 
And though he was unsatisfied in getting, 
(Which was a sin), yet in bestowing, madam, 
He was most princely. — Shakspeare. 

Wood (Rev. John George, English naturalist, author 
of "Man and Beast Here and Hereafter"), 1 827-1 889. 
" Give me a large cup of tea" 

At six o'clock he complained of thirst, and asked for a 
cup of milk. Still his mind was perfectly clear, for, find- 
ing that he could no longer raise his head to drink, he 
asked whether there happened to be an invalid's cup in 
the house, and, finding that there was not, suggested that 
a small milk-jug would answer the purpose instead. This 
was procured, and he drank his milk, asking immediately 
afterward for a large cup of tea, which he drank also. 
And almost immediately afterward he turned his head 
upon one side, and quietly passed away. 

Theodore Wood. 

Woodville (William, English physician and author of 
a work on " Medical Botany "), 175 2-1 805. " I shall not 
live more than two days, therefore make haste" last re- 
corded words said to a carpenter he had sent for to 
measure him for a coffin. 

WoOLSTON (Thomas, English theologian), 1 669-1 733. 
" This is a struggle which all men must go through, and 
which I bear not only with patience, but with willingness " 

WoOLTON (John, Bishop of Exeter), 1 535-1 594. "A 
Bishop ought to die on his legs" He insisted upon stand- 
ing up to die, as did also the Rev. Patrick Bronte. 

186 



SDitftinguisfyefc $$m ant> Momen* 

Wordsworth (William, distinguished English poet), 
1 770-1 850. " God bless you / Is that you, Dora ? " 

Mrs. Wordsworth, with a view of letting him know 
what the opinion of his medical advisers was concerning 
his case, said gently to him, " William, you are going to 
Dora ! " More than twenty-four hours afterward one of 
his nieces came into the room, and was drawing aside the 
curtain of his chamber, and then, as if awakening from a 
quiet sleep, he said, rt Is that you, Dora ? " 

Memoirs of Wordsworth, Vol. ii. p. 506. 

WYATT (Sir Thomas, the younger), 15 20-1 5 54. On 
the scaffold he said to the people : " Whereas it is said 
abroad that I should accuse my Lady Elizabeth's grace 
and my Lord Courtenay ; it is not so, good people, for I 
assure you that neither they nor any other now yonder 
in bold endurance was privy of my rising a commotion 
before I began." Weston, his confessor, shouted, " Believe 
him not, good people ! he confessed otherwise before the 
council." Wyatt answered : " That which I said then I 
said, but that which I say now is true'' These were 
Wyatt's last words. 

WYCHERLEY (William, author of "The Plaindealer," 
"The Country Wife," and several other comedies), 1640- 
17 1 5. " Promise me you will never again marry an old 
man" said to his wife. 

When he was over seventy years old he married a 
young woman, but he survived his marriage only eleven 
days. 

187 



ilaat Moras of 

XlMENES (J. A., Spanish theologian), 17 19-1774. 
" This is death." 

Yancey (William Lowndes, American politician, se- 
cessionist and commissioner to Europe to secure recogni- 
tion of the Southern Confederacy. He was called "The 
Fire-Eater"), 181 5-1 863. " Sarah" his wife's name. 

YVART (J. A. Victor, called " The Arthur Young of 
France "), 1764-183 1. " Nature, how lovely thou art / " 

ZANE (Giacomo, a Venetian poet), 15 29-1 560. "/ 
should like to live" There is dispute about these words ; 
some writers say his last words were : " I should not like 
to live." 

ZENO, or ZENON (Greek philosopher and founder of the 
school of the Stoics), about B. c. 355 — about B. C. 257. 
"Earth, dost thou demand me? I am ready" Last re- 
corded words. 

The occasion of the philosopher's death is related as 
follows : "One day, as he was coming out of his school, he 
ran against some object and broke his finger; this he 
considered as an intimation from the gods that he must 
soon die ; and, immediately striking the ground with his 
hand, he said, ' Earth, dost thou demand me ? I am 
ready.' Instead of seeking to have his finger healed, he 
deliberately strangled himself. 

" He had taught publicly forty-eight years without in- 
termission ; and, reckoning from the time when he com- 

188 



E>tetmgtti0l)e& spen ana Women* 

menced his studies under Crates, the Cynic, he had de- 
voted himself to philosophy for sixty-eight years." 

Fenelon. 

ZiMMERMANN (Johann Georg von, eminent Swiss phy- 
sician of the eighteenth century, and author of a famous 
essay on " Solitude "), 1728-1795. il I am dying ; leave 
me alone." 

He was completely deranged for some time before his 
death. 

Zinzendorf (Nicolaus Ludwig, Count and Lord of Zin- 
zendorf and Pottendorf, founder of the Moravian Church, 
and the author of a number of beautiful hymns), 1700- 
1760. Around his bed more than a hundred members of 
the community gathered to receive his blessing, and hear 
his last council and encouragement. When he had spoken 
kindly to them all he said to his son-in-law : " Now, my 
dear son, I am going to the Saviour. I am ready ; I am 
quite resigned to the will of my Lord. If He is no longer 
willing to make use of me here I am quite ready to go to 
Him, for there is nothing more in my way." His son-in- 
law offered prayer, and as he closed with the petition, 
" Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace," 
the great and holy man fell asleep in his Saviour. 

ZwiNGLE, or ZwiNGLlUS (a Swiss Reformer who was 
killed at the battle of Cappel), 1484-1531. " Can this be 
considered a calamity ? Well ! they can, indeed, kill the 
body, but they are not able to kill the soul." Said after re- 
ceiving the mortal wound. 

189 



Epilogue. 



Great men may by their courage and virtue fortify us 
against the terrors of death, if by their vices, and fears 
begotten of vices, they do not distress us tenfold more 
than we were distressed before ; they may point the way 
from a present twilight to the infinite day-dawn beyond ; 
and yet in the end must every pilgrim choose for himself 
the road over which he is to journey. The foregoing 
pages give only the experiences of others. Nevertheless, 
they may soften in our minds the dark outlines of the 
landscape, and cast a ray of light into the great unseen. 
Happy is the soul that in an age of doubt and uncer- 
tainty can trust, even though it be with trembling faith, 
One greater than the greatest, and Who has named Him- 
self the Resurrection and the Life ! 



Sunset and evening star, 

And one clear call for me ! 
And may there be no moaning of the bar, 

When I put out to sea. 

191 



(Epilogue 

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, 

Too full for sound and foam, 
When that which drew from out the boundless 
deep 

Turns again home. 

Twilight and evening bell, 

And after that the dark ! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell ; 

When I embark; 

For tho* from out our bourne of time and place 

The flood may bear me far, 
I hope to see my Pilot face to face 

When I have crossed the bar. — Tennyson. 



192 



INDEX 



13 



Index 



Absolutely, and I pray God to con- 
demn me, if I have, 137 
Adieu, my dear Marand; I am dying, 

175 
Adieu, world ; here is no pity for 

me. Soldiers, fire, 171 
Adios, mundo ; no hay piedad para mi. 

Soldados, fuego, 1 70 
After I am dead you will find Calais 

written upon my heart, 108 
Ah, Jesus ! 34 
Ah! mes enfans, you cannot cry as 

much for me, 143 
Ah ! my child, let us speak of Christ's 

love, 21 
Ah ! poor humpback, thy many long 

years, 40 
All I request of you, gentlemen, is 

that you bear witness, 5 
All is well, all is well — the seed of 

God reigns over all, 58 
All my life I have carried myself 

gracefully, 28 
All my possessions for one moment 

of time, 53 
Amazing, amazing glory! I am hav- 
ing Paul's understanding, 135 
An Emperor ought to die standing, 

172 
And must I then die ? Will not all my 

riches save me ? 10 
Anderson, you know that I always 

wished to die, 117 
Are the French beaten ? 1 1 7 
Are those air eady the Achilles' funeral ? 

«3 

Are we not children, all of us ? 163 
Artery ceases to beat, The, 72 
Assatus est ; jam versa et manduca, 96 
" Asunder flies the man," 101 
At rest at last. Now I am free from 
pain, 77 



Away ! Away ! Why do you thus look 

at me ? 1 1 
Ay, Jesus ! 35 

Be fruitful, 109 

Be of good comfort, brother, for we 
. shall have a merry supper, 20 
Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, 

and play the man, 96 
Be serious, 70 
Be thou everlasting, 142 
Begone, you and your trumpery; until 

this moment, 147 
Behold then, the recompense reserved, 

45 

Beloved Bickus, the principle of ex- 
istence and mutability, 65 

Best of all is, God is with us, The, 179 

Bishop ought to die on his legs, A, 186 

Blessed be God, I have kept a con- 
science void of offence, 1 71 

Blessed be God, though I change my 
place, 132 

Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which 
was given, The, 132 

Bring thy torch hither; do thine office 
before my face, 91 

Brother, brother, strong evidences, 
nothing but strong evidences, 137 

Brother Ranney, will you bury me ? 
bury me? quick! quick! 92 

Can this be considered a calamity? 

Well, they can, 189 
Can this last long? 184 
Carry my bones before you on your 

march, 50 
Catholic faith is, to love God and to 

love man, The, 37 
Christ also hath suffered for sins, 80 
Christ Jesus the Saviour of sinners 

and life of the dead, 124 



195 



31nuer 



Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die ! 

4 
Come, my son, and see how a Christian 

can die, 75 
Come to me, 48 
Commend your souls to God, for our 

bodies are the foes ! 115 
Comme un dernier rayon, comme un 

dernier zephyre, 35 
Contemplate the state in which I am 

fallen, and learn to die, 142 
Crito, I owe a cock to ^Esculapius, 153 

Dear little fellow — he is a beautiful 
boy, 95 

Debt! no 

Did I not say I was writing the Re- 
quiem for myself? 119 

Did you know Burke ? 150 

Did you think I should live forever ? 

99 

Do not let the Civil Rights bill fail ! 

1 60 
Don't let poor Nelly starve ! 33 
Domine ! Domine ! fac finem ! fac 

finem ! 57 
Dying, dying, 81 
Dying man can do nothing easy, A, 59 

Earth, dost thou demand me ? I am 

ready, 188 
End has come in the way in which I 

most desired, The, 157 
Erravi cum Petro, sed non flevi cum 

Petro, 64 
Et tu, Brute ! 27 
Examine it for yourself, 1 78 
Exariare aliquis nostris ex ossibus 

ultor, 160 

Faith and patience hold out, 129 
Far from well, yet far better than mine 

iniquities deserve, no 
Farewell, and remember me, 105 
Farewell, my children, forever. I go 

to your father, 106 
Farewell, O farewell, all earthly things, 

and welcome heaven, 14 
Farewell sun, moon, and stars, 102 
Fear not true Pharisees, but greatly 

fear painted Pharisees, 3 
Fi de la vie ! qu'on ne m'en parle plus, 

105 



For the love of God, don't mention 
that man ! 1 75 

For the name of Jesus and the de- 
fense of the Church, II 

For the sake of the true gospel given 
once by the grace of God, 184 

Frenchmen, I die innocent of all the 
crimes, 100 

Friendship itself is but apart of virtue, 
131 

Gentlemen of the jury, you will now 

consider of your verdict, 164 
Give Day Rolles a chair, 36 
Give me a large cup of tea, 186 
Give me back my youth, 185 
Give my love to the world, 182 
Give the boys a holiday, 4 
" Glory be to the Father, and to the 

Son, and to the Holy Ghost," 12 
Glory hallelujah ! I am going to the 

Lordy ! I come ! Ready ! Go ! 70 
Glory to God for all things, Amen, 

36 
" God be merciful to me, a sinner," 

170 
God be thanked, I have had a very 

good night, 151 
God bless you, 25 
God bless you all ! 147 
God bless you ! Is that you, Dora ? 

187 
God bless you, my dear ! 92 
God have mercy upon me, and be 

gracious to me, 155 
God preserve the emperor, 75 
God protect Bulgaria, 157 
God, who placed me here, will do 

what he pleases with me hereafter, 

19 

God will continue to support me, $9 

God's wounds ! The villain hath 
killed me, 1 74 

Good-bye, 121 

Good-bye, General; I'm done. I'm 
too old, 52 

Good Doctor, God has heard my daily 
petitions, 81 

Good morning, 120 

Good people, give me more fire, 82 

Grateful — in peace! 89 

Grenadiers ! lower your arms, other- 
wise you will miss me, 57 



I96 



Iftnm 



Ha til mi tulidh, 140 

Had it pleased my Lord to spare me 

longer, 161 
Happy, 103 
He, 75 
He has indeed been a precious Christ 

to me, 141 
Heaven ! 183 

Help, my dear — help ! 103 
Here! Fire here ! 170 
Here, then, we have come to the last 

stage of my journey, 18 
Here thou art then ! 36 
Herr Jesu, to thee I live ; Herr Jesu, 

to thee I die ! 61 
Hold your tongue; your wretched 

style only makes, 103 
Holy, holy, holy, blessed Lord Jesus ! 

140 
How am I advanced, despising you 

that are upon the earth ! 104 
How beautiful ! 121 
How beautiful God is ! 95 
How easy — how easy — how easy to 

glide from work here, 135 
How grand the sunlight! It seems 

to beckon earth to heaven, 85 
How great is the forgiveness for such 

a life! 174 
How sweet it is to rest ! 164 
Huz ! Huz ! 99 

I am about to die, and I am not afraid 

to die, 176 
I am about to die. I expect the sum- 
mons soon, 164 
I am almost dead ; lift me up a little 

higher, 50 
I am almost well, 9 
I am done for, 76 
I am dying, 180 
I am dying, I am worn out, 118 
I am dying; leave me alone, 189 
I am dying, sir, of a hundred good 

symptoms, 131 
I am glad to hear it ; but, O brother 

Payne ! 126 
I am going to sleep like you, but we 

shall all awake together, 132 
I am going to the great perhaps, 133 
I am going where all tears will be 

wiped from my eyes, 109 
I am grateful for your presence, 30 



I am grateful to Divine Mercy, 96 
I am ill — very ill, I shall not re- 
cover, 118 
I am just going; have me decently 

buried, 176 
I am not in the least afraid to die, 42 
I am now ready to die. Lord, for- 
sake me not, 79 
I am ready, 57 
I am ready, no 
I am ready at any time — do not keep 

me waiting, 22 
I am ready — let there be no mistake 

and no delay, 18 
I am roasted — now turn me, and eat 

me, 96 
I am satisfied with the Lord's will, 

124 
I am suffering, sire, the pangs of the 

damned, 162 
I am very ill. Is it not strange that 

those people, 30 
I am weary ; I will now go to sleep, 

Good night! 122 
I am wounded, 77 
I cannot bear it ; let me rest. I must 

die, 138 
I carry in my heart the dirge of the 

monarchy, 1 14 
I confide to your care, my beloved 

children, 115 
I could wish this tragic scene were 

over, 133 
I desire to go to hell, and not to 

heaven, 102 
I did not think that they would put a 

young gentleman to death, 9 
I die a martyr and willingly — my 

soul shall mount up to heaven, 23 
I die happy, 185 
I die not only a Protestant, but with 

a heart-hatred of popery, 6 
I die of a broken heart, 93 
I die unprepared, 19 
I do forgive you, 84 
I do not fear death, 18 
I fear not death ; death is not terrible 

to me, 32 
I feel as if I were sitting with Mary 

at the feet of my Redeemer, 76 
I feel as if I were to be myself again, 

147 
I feel like a mote in the sunbeam, 129 



13* 



197 



^nm 



I feel quite well, only very weak, 92 

I feel the flowers growing over me, 93 

I give thee thanks, O God, for all thy 
benefits, 51 

I have already confessed my sins to 
God, 151 

I have always endeavored to the best 
of my ability, 37 

I have been fortunate in long good 
health and constant success, 137 

I have been murdered; no remedy 
can prevent my speedy death, 97 

I have done my work. It is the most 
natural thing in the world to die, 
136 

I have enough, brother ; try to save 
your own life, 7 1 

I have ever cherished an honest pride'; 
never have I stooped, 149 

I have found at last the object of my 
love, 87 

I have had wealth, rank and power, 
but if these were all, 3 

I have known thee all the time, 182 

I have led a happy life, 75 

I have loved God, my father and lib- 
erty, 157 

I have loved justice and hated in- 
iquity, 69 

I have no enemies except those of the 
state, 137 

I have no religious joys; but I have 
hope, 62 

I have no wish to believe on that sub- 
ject, 126 

I have often read and thought of that 
scripture, 27 

I have opened it, 164 

I have pain — there is no arguing 
against sense, 9 

I have Paul's understanding, 135 

I have peace, perfect peace, 27 

I have taught men how to live, 38 

I have the flavor of death on my 
tongue, I taste death, 119 

I heard your voice ; but did not un- 
derstand what you said, 70 

I hope the people of England will be 
satisfied, 117 

I know that it will be well with me, 

58 
" I know that my Redeemer liveth," 
158 



"I know that my Redeemer liveth." 
I die for the good old cause, 162 

I know what you are thinking of, but 
I have nothing, 185 

I'll be shot if I don't believe I'm 
dying, 167 

I must now hasten away since my 
baggage has been sent, 7 

I must sleep now, 27 

I never departed from the true church, 
106 

I never thought that it was so easy a 
matter to laugh, 144 

I now feel so weaned from earth, my 
affections so much in heaven, 183 

I now feel that I am dying. Our care 
must be, 113 

I only regret that I have but one life 
to give to my country ! 72 

I pray you all pray for me, 10 

I pray you see me safe up the scaf- 
fold, 117 

I receive absolution upon this con- 
dition, 134 

I repent of my life except that part, 49 

I resign my spirit to God ; my 
daughter to my country, 9 1 

I see earth receding ; Heaven is open- 
ing; God is calling me, 116 

I shall be glad to find a hole to creep 
out of the world at, 80 

I shall hear in heaven, 13 

I shall not live more than two days, 
therefore make haste, 186 

I shall not long hesitate between con- 
science and the Pope, 14 

I shall retire early ; I am very tired, 
102 

I shall this day deceive the worms in 
Hadley churchyard, 164 

I should like to live, 188 

I should like to record the thoughts 
of a dying man, 9 

I should not like to live, 188 

I stand in the presence of my Creator, 
80 

I still live! 178 

I strike my flag, 85 

I suffer nothing, but feel a sort of 
difficulty of living longer, 58 

I suffer the violence of pain and 
death, 20 

I suppose I shall soon be a god, 172 



I98 



j[ttm 



I take God to witness I have preached, 

87 
I thank God that not a day of my life 

has been spent, 129 
I thank thee, O my God and Saviour, 

96 
I thank you for all your faithful ser- 
vices ; God bless you, 28 
I think I shall die to-night, 140 
I thought dying had been harder, 99 
I trust in the mercy of God, it is not 

now too late, 78 
I want, oh, you know what I mean, 

the stuff of life, 163 
I want to go away, 31 
I want to go home, 178 
I were miserable, if I might not die, 49 
I will enter now into the house of the 

Lord, 99 
I will have no rogue's son in my seat, 

53 

I will lie down on the couch, 36 

I wish I had the power of writing, 40 

I wish Vaughan to preach my funeral 

sermon, 157 
I wish you to understand the true 

principles of government, 73 
If he should slay me ten thousand 

times, 141 
If I die, I die unto the Lord, Amen, 

88 
If I had strength to hold a pen I 

would write, 87 
If I have been deceived, doubtless it 

was the work of a spirit, 153 
If you love my soul, away with it ! 81 
Illi in extremis prae timore imbellis 

sudor, 171 
In death at last let me rest with 

Abelard, 76 
Independence forever ! 2 
In life and in death, I am the Lord's, 

88 
" In manus tuos, Domine, commendo 

spiritum meum," 37 
In the name of modesty, cover my 

bosom ! 54 
Is it not true, dear Hammel, that I 

have some talent after all ? 13 
Is Lawrence come? — Is Lawrence 

come ? 63 
Is not this dying with courage and 

true greatness? 15 



Is this death ? 98 

Is this death ? 133 

Is this dying ? Is this all ? Is this 

all that I feared ? 109 
It came with a lass, and it will go 

with a lass, 91 
It grows dark, boys. You may go, 1 
It is a great consolation for a dying 

poet, 19 
It is a great consolation to me, in my 

last hour, 62 
It is a great satisfaction to me to 

know, 117 
It is all one, Phillips and Clarke will 

come for my sake, 128 
It is all the same in the end, 124 
It is beautiful, 22 
It is delightful to see those whom I 

love still able to swallow, 41 
It is likely that you may never need 

to do it again, 80 
It is not painful, Pgetus, 6 
It is safest to trust in Jesus, 14 
It is small, very small indeed, 19 
It is the last of earth ! I am content ! 2 
It is well, 1 76 
It is well; I thank you; God bless 

you, 161 
It matters little to me ; for if I am but 

once dead, 24 
It matters not where I am going, 

whether the weather, 52 
It will be but a momentary pang, 5 
It will soon be time for mass. They 

must raise me, 160 
It would be hard indeed if we two 

dear friends should part, 125 

Jefferson survives, 2 

Jesu ! 130 

Jesus ! Jesus ! 92 

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, 149 

Jesus ! precious Saviour ! 41 

Jesus, Son of the eternal God, have 

mercy on me ! 148 
Joy, 118 
" Justum et tenacem propositi virum," 

46 

King should die standing, A, 100 
Kiss me, Hardy, 122 
Knowledge of the love of God — the 
blessing of God Almighty, The, 1 10 



199 



3|ntiej: 



La montagne est pas see, nous irons 

mieux, 62 
Laissez la verdure, 142 
Let down the curtain, the farce is over, 

133 

Let me die with the Philistines, 142 
Let my epitaph be, " Here lies Joseph, 

who was unsuccessful," 92 
Let us go over the river, and sit under 

the refreshing shadow, 88 
Let us submit to the laws of nature, 

136 

Life or death is welcome to me, 179 
Life spent in the service of God, A, 78 
Live in Christ, live in Christ, 96 
Lord ! 39 
Lord, forgive my sins ; especially my 

sins of omission, 170 
Lord has suffered as much for me, The, 

143 
Lord, have mercy upon me. Wilt thou 

break a bruised reed ? 6 
Lord help my soul ! 130 
Lord, into thy hands I commend my 

spirit, 35 
Lord, into thy hands I commend my 

spirit, 69 
Lord, into thy hands I commend my 

spirit, 162 
Lord, Lord, Lord, receive my spirit ! 

Lord, receive my soul, 96 
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, 82 
Lord Jesus, receive my soul ! 183 
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, 

158 
" Lord, now let thy servant depart in 

peace," 21 
Lord, open the eyes of the King of 

England, 170 
Lord, receive my spirit! 164 
Lord, receive my spirit ! 140 
Lord take my spirit, 5 1 
Luis de Moscoso, 45 

Madame, 26 

Mais quel diable de mal veux — 

te que cela me fosse ? 47 
Many things are growing plain and 

clear to my understanding, 144 
Master Kingston, farewell ! My time 

draweth on fast, 185 
May God never forsake me ! 129 



May God's will be done, 15 

Mir ist sehr schlecht, 1 76 

Molly, I shall die ! 68 

Mon Dieu ! Mon Dieu ! 66 

Mon Dieu ! La Nation Francaise, Tete 

d' armee, 121 
Monks! Monks! Monks! 78 
More light ! More light ! 66 
Murder of the Queen had been rep- 
resented to me, The, 7 
Must I leave it unfinished? 121 
My anchor is well cast, and my ship, 82 
My beautiful flowers, my lovely flow- 
ers! 137. 
My beloved! they are not mine. No! 

they are not mine ! 15 
My children, these fearful forests and 

these barren rocks, 66 
My Christ, 22 
My dear one, with whom I lived in 

love so long, 149 
My desire is to make what haste I 

may to be gone, 40 
My friend, I shall die to-day. "When 

one is in this situation, 1 13 
My friend, it is only from cold, 8 
My God! 132 
" My God, my Father, and my Friend," 

48 
My heart is fixed, O God ! my heart 

is fixed, 142 
My heart is resting sweetly with Jesus, 

40 
My life is taken from me, though I 

have done nothing, 169 
My Lord, why do you not go on ? I 

am not afraid to die, 108 
My soul I resign to God, my body to 

the earth, 24 
My trust is in God, 163 
My work is done; I have nothing to 

do but to go to my Father, 87 

Nature, how lovely thou art ! 188 

Nectare clausa suo, 148 

Never heed ; the Lord's power is over 

all weakness, 58 
Never mind, I shall soon drink of the 

river of Eternal Life, 168 
No, it is not, 67 
No, No! 21 
No mortal man can live after the 

glories which God, 170 






200 



3InDer 



No, whatever is, is best, 98 

No, your Majesty, to-morrow you will 
not see me here, 31 

Nobody, nobody but Jesus Christ, 25 

Not , 55 

Nothing else but heaven, 11 1 

Now all is over — let the piper play 
"Ha til mi tulidh," 140 

Now am I about to make my last voy- 
age — a great leap in the dark, 80 

Now comes the mystery, 13 

Now I am going, 57 

Now, God be praised, only one hour ! 

65 

Now God be with you, my dear chil- 
dren, 22 

Now I can hold on no longer. Lay 
me in a different posture, 145 

Now I die, 179 

Now I know that I must be very ill, 
since you have been sent for, 99 

Now it is come, 96 

Now lack I but two stiles ; and I am 
even at my Father's house, 164 

Now, Lord, I go ! 35 

Now, my dear son, I am going to the 
Saviour, 189 

Nurse, nurse, what murder ! what 
blood ! Oh ! I have done wrong, 34 

O Allah, be it so ! Henceforth among 

the glorious host of paradise, 114 
O Allah, pardon my sins. Yes, I come, 

among my fellow labourers, 1 14 
O, better, 88 
O come in glory ! I have long waited 

for thy coming, 53 

" O death where is thy " 78 

" O Father of thy beloved and blessed 

Son, Jesus Christ!" 13 1 
O Florence, what hast thou done to- 
day? 143 
O God come to mine aid ; O Lord 

make haste to help me, 99 
O God have mercy upon me, and upon 

this poor nation, 125 
O God — if there be a God — I desire 

Thee to have mercy on me, 169 
O ! he 's a dear, good fellow, 181 
O Hobbima, Hobbima, how I do love 

thee! 40 
O liberty, O liberty ! how many crimes 

are committed in thy name? 140 
O Lord Almighty, as thou wilt ! 24 



O Lord, forgive the errata ! 20 

O Lord, into thy hands I commit my 

spirit, 107 
O Lord, save my country ! O Lord, 

be merciful, 73 
O my country, how I love thee ! 130 
O, my mother ! how deep will be thy 

sorrow at the news, 38 
O, my poor soul, what is to become of 

thee? no 
O, my poor soul, whither art thou go- 



ing 



? 2 



O Paradise ! O Paradise ! At last comes 
to me the grand consolation, 129 

O, that beautiful boy! 55 

O, that glorious sun ! 132 

O the depths of the riches of the good- 
ness and knowledge of God! 98 

O, to die for liberty is a pleasure and 
not a pain, 20 

O wretched virtue ! thou art a bare 
name! 23 

Oh, the insufferable pangs of hell and 
damnation ! 124 

Oh death, why art thou so long in 
coming? 41 

Oh, don't let the awkward squad fire 
over me ! 26 

Oh Puss, chloroform — ether — or I 
am a dead man, 26 

Oh, would to God I had never reigned ! 
130 

On the ground, 47 

One hundred and forty-four, 42 

Only objection against the Bible is a 
bad life, The, 184 

Open the gates ! Open the gates ! 179 

Over my spirit flash and float in di- 
vine radiancy, 166 

Pains, the groans, the dying strife, The, 

123 
Peace! 20 
Peace! 178 

People my trust, The, 64 
Poor little boys ! 24 
Pourquoi est-ce que vous me quittez, 

66 
Pray, pray ! 72 
Precious salvation ! 80 
Promise me you will never again marry 

an old man, 187 

Qualis artifex pereo ! 122 



201 



iiiiiiiiiiiiBBiiiiiiiiiiBMBwiiBiiiiMiBwmiiiiiiiiiMiwiiwiiMiinmninninii^i—mM^mniinnTiMni 



lf\nm 



" Reason thus with life," 1 16 

Refresh me with a great thought, 79 

Relief has come, 125 

Remember, 32 

Remember that I die as becomes a 
British officer, 5 

Righteous wait expectant till I re- 
ceive my recompense, The, 59 

" Rock of Ages cleft for me," 3 

Sarah, 188 

See in what peace a Christian can die, 2 

Set your mind at rest, Dieu me par- 

donnera, 75 
Shall I sue for mercy? — Come, come, 

no weakness, 27 
Sister ! sister ! sister ! 44 
So far as I have understood what the 

duties of my office were, 157 
So much the better ! I shall not then 

live to see the surrender, 115 
So the heart be right, it is no matter 

which way the head lies, 133 
Sit down, 160 
Sixty-four years ago it pleased the 

Almighty to call, 118 
Soldiers — fire! 124 
Soul of Christ, sanctify me ; Body of 

Christ, save me, 149 
South! The South! God knows what 

will become of her ! The, 28 
Stay, friend, till I put aside my beard, 

117 
Stop, go out of the room ; I am about 

to die, 58 
Stopped! 68 
Strike, if it be for the Roman's good, 

63 

Suffer no pomp at my funeral, nor 

monumental inscription, 84 
Sun, thou hast betrayed me, 93 

Take care of Maria, 175 

Take care of poor mistress, 92 

" Taught, half by reason, half by mere 

decay," 120 
Tell Collingwood to bring the fleet to 

anchor, 122 
Tell Emerson that I love and revere 

him, 160 
Tell Hill he must come up, 97 
Tell them to go forward and do a good 

work, 41 



Texas ! Texas ! Margaret, 83 
Thank God, I have done my duty, 122 
Thank God! Thank Heaven! 1 15 
Thank God, to-morrow I shall join 

the glorious company above, 50 
That is enough to last till I get to 

heaven, 176 
That's right, Brother Taylor; parry 

them off as well as you can, 151 
That which I said then I said, but 

that which I say now is true, 187 
There are six guineas for you, and do 

not hack me, 147 
" There is another and a better 

world," 128 
There is no other life but the eternal, 

22 
There is no time to be lost, 42 
This is a beautiful world, 58 
This is a sharp medicine, but a sure 

remedy, 133 
This is a struggle which all men must 

go through, 186 
This is death, 188 
This is not my home, 6 
This is the toilette of death, 38 
This soul in flames I offer, Christ, to 

thee, 92 
This unworthy right hand, 40 
Thou dog ! 121 
Thou hast conquered, O Galilean ! 

thou hast conquered ! 93 
Thou hast said truly, consummatum 

est, 13 
Thou knowest, O Lord, the secrets of 

our hearts, 95 
Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am 

abundantly satisfied, 29 
Throw a quilt over it, 61 
Throw up the window that I may see 

once more, 141 
Thy creatures, O Lord, have been my 

books, 7 
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be 

done," 37 
Tired — very tired — a long journey — 

to take, 73 
To judge by what I now endure, the 

hand of death, 140 
Toffro il tuo proprio Figlio, 1 12 
Trotter will tell you, 59 
Trust in God and you need not fear, 

51 



202 



Iftnm 



Under the feet of my friars, 49 
Ungrateful traitors ! 109 

Very little meat for the mustard, 81 
Vex me not with this thing, but give 

me a simple cross, 30 
Vos plaudite, 6 

Water, 68 

Water, 168 

We are all going to heaven, and Van- 
dyke is of the company, 63 

We are ready — soldiers, fire ! 42 

We return no more, 140 

We shall not lose our lives in this 
fire, 124 

We will endeavor to crawl to this 
line, 83 

We will go to Jerusalem, 99 

Welcome the Cross of Christ, wel- 
come everlasting life, 143 

Well! God's will be done. He 
knows best, 172 

Well, ladies, if I were one hour in 
heaven, 108 

Well, my friend, what news from the 
Great Mogul? 118 

Were you at Sedan ? 121 

What an idle piece of ceremony, 21 

What ! art thou too, one of them ! 
Thou, my son ! 27 

What can it signify ? 39 

What is that ? 159 

Whatty, what is this ? It is death, my 
boy, 66 

When I think of the existence which 
shall commence, 30 



While there is life there is will, 21 
Will no one have pity on me ? Here, 

fire here ! 171 
With all my heart : I would fain be 

reconciled to my stomach, 57 
Whose house is this ? What street 

are we in ? 24 
Write the word "Remorse "; show it 

to me, 134 
Why, certainly, certainly ! 163 
Why dost thou not strike ? Strike ! 

"33 

Why weep ye ? Did you think that 

I could live forever ? 99 
Worst is I cannot see, The, 162 

Yes ! 59 

Yes ! 102 

Yes, it would be rash to say that they 

have no reasons, 30 
You are fighting for an earthly crown, 

63 

You are good fellows, but you can do 

nothing for me, 9 
You make me drink. Pray leave me 

quiet, 35 
You may go home, the show is over, 

44 
You need not be anxious concerning 

to-night, 31 
You see what is man's life, 64 
You will show my head to the people, 

42 

Young man, keep your record — , 67 
Young man, you have heard, no doubt, 
how great are the terrors, 9 



203 



JUN 8 1900 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

027 249 982 2 



